Powell not overly concerned about lack of momentum going into Paris

After their worst finish of the season – a sixth place - at the last World Series event in Singapore‚ Blitzbok coach Neil Powell isn’t overly concerned that his side has lost momentum at a crucial stage of the campaign.

The Blitzboks head into this weekend’s penultimate leg of the 2016/17 World Series with a 25-point lead over Fiji after winning four tournaments‚ with three runners-up places as well.

Two quarterfinal appearances in the last two events of the season in Paris and London would be enough to win the overall title‚ regardless of what Fiji do.

The Blitzboks have shown remarkable consistency throughout the season despite losing key players such as Kyle Brown‚ Justin Geduld and Stephan Dippenaar to injury‚ and Seabelo Senatla and Kwagga Smith to Super Rugby commitments.

• Blitzboks avoid looking at the horizonThe Blitzboks will continue to avoid looking at the horizon by focusing on immediate obstacles such as Scotland in their opening Pool A encounter at the Paris leg of the HSBC World Sevens Series on Saturday. 

But the cracks began to show in their last outing in Singapore‚ which could be a bad sign as they try to wrap up the title in Paris this weekend.

“Does what happened in Singapore worry me?” coach Neil Powell asked.

“Yes and no. “Singapore is a tough tournament coming as it does after Hong Kong because Hong Kong is the most prestigious event on tour and it’s big for all the top teams.

“We all invest so much energy and emotion into it – and that includes New Zealand and Fiji – who also struggled afterwards in Singapore.

• Blitzboks welcome back Spec magic for Paris and LondonBlitzbok coach Neil Powell named his strongest squad since the North American leg of the HSBC World Sevens Series’ for the final two tournaments of the season in Paris and London on Friday. 

“Somehow the tournament straight after Hong Kong is a tough one for the guys to get up for.

"Even when the event was in Tokyo‚ we used to struggle and I’m not entirely sure what it is.

“After Hong Kong I could feel that the guys’ energy was a bit flat and we tried hard to get it back. But it felt like we were low on energy and we couldn't do the basic things well.

“We didn’t protect our ball and although we were good for 11 minutes in the quarterfinal against Australia‚ we weren’t clinical in the final three minutes and paid the price.

• Blitzboks won't be thinking about overall title in Paris“You can’t defend something you don’t have yet.” That’s the mantra the Blitzboks have been living by for the past two weeks as they prepare for their final onslaught on winning the 2016/17 HSBC World Sevens Series title in the coming fortnight. 

“In 2016 Kenya won in Singapore for their first title in the Series and this year it was Canada who broke their duck.

"I think it’s a tournament the ‘smaller’ teams target after Hong Kong when the ‘big’ teams seem to have low motivation and energy.

“So that is a concern because it goes against the standards we set and what we stand for as a team. “But that said‚ we had a good camp prior to Paris and the guys look full of energy.

"It feels like we are gelling well at this stage and hopefully we can take that positive energy into this tournament.”

SA are drawn in Pool A alongside Singapore winners Canada‚ an improving Scotland and the unpredictable Japan.

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport