Blitsbokke a tale of woe

Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu must be thinking that the more things change, the more they stay the same, as his side lost their third consecutive IRB Sevens Plate final, going down 26-22 to Australia in the Wellington Sevens.

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Not only was it the second time in three tournaments that the Blitsbokke lost to Australia in a Plate final, but they had to endure a day where they were beaten in a Cup quarterfinal again by Fiji, the third consecutive time that this has happened in as many tournaments.

Fiji won a pulsating final against Samoa 19-14 after disposing of England in the semis. Samoa shocked New Zealand in their semifinal.

Treu made four changes to the side that went to George, bringing in a number of young players, but had to watch as his senior players squandered a 17-0 lead to lose the game in the second half in the Plate final.

After an initial try by Chase Minnaar, captain Mzwandile Stick made it 12-0 with a quick tap from a penalty that caught Australia unawares and extended their lead when a wild pass back was pounced on by Benjamin.

Australia pulled a try back by James Stannard before the break and Bernard Foley scored shortly afterwards.

But then with the game delicately poised, a bad missed tackle by debutant Hoffman Maritz saw Kimami Situati run in for a try to put the Aussies ahead.

Stick brought the Boks back in front with a chip and chase but the South Africans’ biggest problem — a lack of speed — was badly exposed as the Aussies kicked the ball ahead and Clinton Sills easily outsprinted Rayno Benjamin in the chase to claim the win.

Earlier, it was much more of the same as the Blitsbokke repeated their performance of Dubai and George, doing all the work against Fiji, but getting little reward to bow out 21-5 of the Cup competition.

In fact, the run of play was very much like their last two losses, with large portions of the match being played on the Fijian tryline, only to lose the ball in a turnover and concede long distance tries that ultimately sunk them.

And again the referee heavily penalised Fiji, but again failed to produce a yellow card after a string of six unanswered penalties.

Still, the Boks can feel heartened that while they have not got the same firepower that swept them to the IRB Sevens title last year, they certainly can match the best in the world in both strength and physicality.

But with this year’s series hopes almost gone, the build for the future looks better than ever before, with WP under-21 flyer Steven Hunt making a big impression, while his Blue Bull counterpart Branco du Preez can develop into a star in future.

Du Preez scored the Boks only try against the Fijians, showing a step, vision and enough speed to put his name on the scoresheet.

But this side’s collective responsibility will lie with the senior contracted players, who struggled in the tournament’s big games, and after a solid start, failed to produce the magic needed to give the Boks an advantage.

After attacking for most of the first half, the Boks were behind just before the break after Osea Kolinisau’s long range try from a turnover ruck.

The second half brought the same medicine when Waisale Beci finished off another long range move and despite Du Preez’ try, Seremaia Borutu beat the first line and then stepped Mzwandile Stick at sweeper to finish off the win.