Winning the Grand Final of the World Rugby SVNS Series could be the catalyst that sees South Africa become the dominant force they were in years gone by.
The Springbok Sevens team won the HSBC World Championship title at the Grand Final event of the series in Los Angeles going unbeaten on day one as they swept aside Olympic Games Champions France (19-10), Great Britain (12-7) and SVNS Series League Champions, Argentina (29-21), in Pool A in Las Vegas.
Dominant Blitzboks Performance
Coach Philip Snyman then watched on in delight as his Blitzboks dispatched old foes New Zealand 31-5 in the semi-final before claiming their crown by beating shock finalists Spain 19-5 in the Dignity Health Sports Park Stadium.
It is now the fifth time that the Blitzboks have won the coveted HSBC SVNS Series crown and according to former Blitzbok Fabian Juries the win in Los Angeles could see a resurgence of his old team’s dominance after they won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.
Speaking exclusively to Telecom Asia Sport from Kazakhstan, where Juries currently coaches the aforementioned country’s Women’s Sevens team, the ex-winger says:
When last we spoke I told you that I was a bit concerned with certain aspects of our game not clicking and how it is withholding us from putting in consistent performances on the world stage, like we as supporters have become so accustomed to over the years.
In LA, I must say our defence was rock solid throughout the tournament and the guys really made that clinical step-up in that area.
Blitzboks Rediscover Winning Formula
And on the attack, I think, our best game of the tournament was the semi-final against our old foe New Zealand. Especially on the attack because we went back to something that worked for us in the past by taking the ball out wide and stretching the opposition defence. It is something that creates more space on the inside of a defensive line.
The guys also made sure that when they went out wide the cleaners at ruck-time was there to make sure the ball was presented quickly. It truly reminded me of the way we played a couple of years ago where we won a plethora of tournaments back-to-back by going wide-wide and providing quicker ruck ball.
Blitzbok Game Changers
Juries was also full of praise for Blitzbok captain and Player of the Final, Selvyn Davids, as well as fellow backline player Shilton van Wyk, who stood out as the go-to-guys when it came to creating attacking opportunities.
The two of them were really dangerous – Shilton on the attack and defence where he worked really hard while Selvyn reaffirmed himself as one of the best players in sevens rugby in the world.
Bring Back Old Format
Although Juries is pleased with seeing his old team being crowned champions again, he does feel that the SVNS Series should return to its old format, where the overall winner is determined by log points and who wins the most tournaments during a season.
World Rugby recently announced that they are looking at a possible format change for the SVNS Series, with even fewer teams competing for the crown, and the winners in the men’s and women’s tournaments determined by who gains the most log points during a season-long campaign.
Juries, however, see this move as a mistake and would love to see the SVNS Series tournaments going back to 16 teams (Four Pools of four teams each) and played over two days and not three.
He tells Telecom Asia Sport why more teams are better:
I truly do not agree with the current and proposed formats. I think it would be best if they went back to the 16 teams. This new proposed format of eight and in some cases six teams is truly confusing and, in my opinion, is harming the development of sevens rugby in lesser-known rugby-playing nations.
Just look at Grand Finalist in Los Angeles, Spain. They are the result of the work that has been put in to develop the game of sevens rugby, and we need more smaller nations getting that exposure on the world’s biggest stage.
If you stick to 16 teams in the SVNS Series, those other smaller countries are also going to become better and more competitive.
