Saturday, 30 January 2016

Springbok Sevens face tenacious Aussies in Wellington quarters

Note to editors: To download the rights-free post-match audio featuring Springbok Sevens coach, Neil Powell, and the latest tournament stats following match day one in Wellington, please click here.

The Springbok Sevens will face Australia in the Cup quarterfinals of the Wellington Sevens on Sunday after they finished second in Pool A following their narrow 19-14 defeat to tournament hosts, New Zealand. Kick-off time is 02h46 on Sunday and all the matches will again be televised live on SuperSport 1.

The Kiwis edged South Africa by the odd try after Sonny Bill Williams drew a couple of Blitzbok defenders before offloading to Joe Webber for the winning try.

New Zealand trailed 5-7 at halftime following a converted try from Kwagga Smith and an unconverted touch down by Sam Dickson.

Akira Ioane gave the hosts the lead after halftime with another unconverted try, which was followed by a Cheslin Kolbe seven pointer. That try allowed the Springbok Sevens to regain the lead at 14-12, but they were edged right at the end when Webber went over for the winning score.

Earlier in the day Justin Geduld, Seabelo Senatla, Juan de Jongh and Rosko Specman all scored tries as the Springbok Sevens defeated Scotland 28-5 in their tournament opener.

That was followed by a 54-0 demolition of Russia. The try scorers were Senatla (2), Smith, Specman (2), De Jongh, Dylan Sage and Chris Dry. Sage, playing in only his second tournament, scored his debut World Series try. He arrived only a day before the start of the tournament as replacement for the injured Ryno Benjamin.

Neil Powell, the Springbok Sevens coach, said that although he was disappointed with the NZ result, we was overall pleased with his team’s performances on match day one.

“The effort of the guys out there today was great. We missed one or two tackles against NZ and also did not finish them off when we had the chance to do so. However, I am very pleased with the overall effort,” explained Powell.

He cautioned that Australia will be a tough nut to crack: “They never give up and will try until the very last minute. They are very determined and have some good individual players and they are a very difficult team to play in the knockout stages,” added Powell.

The Springbok Sevens are currently in second place on the World Series league table with 35 points, the same amount as Fiji, who have a better points average after three tournaments.

The Wellington Cup quarterfinal draw for Sunday (all matches live on SuperSport1):

New Zealand vs Kenya

England vs Argentina

Australia vs South Africa

Fiji vs United States

Issued by SA Rugby Corporate Affairs