Blitzboks' next challenge is to stay at the top

Now that the Blitzboks have risen to the summit of the HSBC World Sevens Series‚ a new goal will be to stay there because next season presents massive challenges.

The Sevens World Cup takes place in San Francisco in 2018‚ in a season which also includes the Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast‚ where SA are reigning champions. After such a dominant season‚ the Blitzboks have set a high standard that all teams will be chasing.

Neil Powell’s side have set a new bar with unprecedented consistency‚ coupled with ruthlessness in 2016/17.

• Blitzboks fifth in London but still winnersThe Blitzboks didn’t finish a triumphant season with a tournament win‚ but in the greater scheme of things a fifth place finish at the London leg of the HSBC World Sevens Series was academic.

Over the past five years since the appeal of sevens has grown with its introduction as an Olympic Sport‚ no side has been as consistent.

The Blitzboks claimed five of the 10 titles this season‚ and also made eight finals. They won 82% of their matches – 49 out of 60 with 10 defeats and a draw – and collected 192 log points.

Nearest challengers England lost 14 of their 58 matches with two draws for a 72% winning ratio while Olympic champions Fiji lost 16 of their 58 matches with one draw – a 71% winning ratio.

Chris Dry and Rosko Specman were also both included in the sevens Dream Team named after the final leg in London. The rest of the team comprised of two Fijians - Kalione Nasoko and Jerry Tuwai - two Americans - Danny Barrett and Perry Baker - as well as England’s Dan Norton.

*The Dates for the 2017/2018 World Sevens Series have been confirmed by World Rugby with Cape Town set for December 9 and 10. It is the second leg of the series following Dubai a week earlier.

After years of dismal attendances‚ Wellington in New Zealand has lost out on hosting the fourth leg of the series. That will move to Hamilton. Teams participating in the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia in mid-April will travel via the Hong Kong tournament‚ which takes place on 6-8 April.

The series resumes in Singapore on 28-29 April. With player welfare considerations at the forefront of schedule planning‚ rest weeks mean the Paris Sevens takes place later than usual on 26-27 May‚ before teams travel to London where the season will come to a crescendo in Twickenham on 2-3 June.

After the end of series‚ the focus will turn to the west coast of the USA on 20-22 July for Rugby World Cup Sevens at the iconic AT&T Park‚ home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team.

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2017-18

Dates:

Dubai: 1-2 December‚ 2017

Capetown: 9-10 December

Sydney: 26-28 January‚ 2018

Hamilton: 3-4 February

Las Vegas: 2-4 March Vancouver: 10-11

March Hong Kong: 6-8 April (Commonwealth Games 2018‚ Gold Coast: 14-15 April)

Singapore: 28-29  April

Paris: 26-27 May

London: 2-3 June (Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018‚ San Francisco: 20-22 July)