Revamped Blitzboks without egos as they start campaign in Dubai with new vigour

The more compact competition has lost some of its vowels and in that spirit the Blitzboks will hope to go into the World Svns Series sans excess baggage.

The trimmed down and mildly rebranded series that kicks off in Dubai this weekend has lost two e's since the last instalment and the Blitzboks offloaded some egos.

It would be an oversimplification to suggest that was the team's achilles heel as they slipped to seventh on the World Series log in their last campaign, but it contributed to them tripping up.

The previous year, as erstwhile coach Neil Powell ended his 15-year association with the team, the Blitzboks were narrowly pipped to the title by Australia.

In their last campaign, Argentina, France and Samoa, who usually finish below them, finished higher.

Further ignominy followed when they came fourth in the Olympic Games qualifiers.

Sandile Ngcobo, who took over from Powell, was always going to have a tough introduction at the head of a team in transition.

In some ways the Blitzboks were victims of their own success. Despite Powell's exit expectation remained high.

Ngcobo admitted this week there is much to sort out off the field.

It appears some players became too big for their boots. The Blitzboks are a much-decorated team and perhaps the accolades went to heads not hearts.

From within there is the admission a level of arrogance had taken root and some players believed they were bigger than the game. An “I don't want to” attitude started to fester.

It was quite a fall from grace for a team that routinely invoked an “all for one” spirit on and off the field.

It perhaps served as a reminder that the players who go about their business with robotic precision are still wired as humans.

By his own admission, last season proved a character tester for the coach. Some players did not get along while other off-the-field matters tugged at the seams of team cohesion.

A team that cares for each other covers each other's mistakes. That was less apparent with the Blitzboks last season.

Being a tightly knit group was in the fabric of their existence, but Ngcobo, who describes ego as the enemy, did not hesitate to make tough calls

His team looks better for it. They recently beat Australia five out of six times in warm-up matches in Stellenbosch.

They are emboldened by those results.

Though the Blitzboks can still qualify for the Olympics via the back door, their focus has shifted to getting the job done in the World Svns Series.

This season the series is more forgiving, with eight tournaments making up the roster instead of 11. It may make a better series as it will give players more time to recover from niggles.

Travelling once a month should also bring about a shift in focus as teams can now view tournaments as stand-alone events.

Putting a just completed tournament quickly in the rear view mirror is also imperative in the itinerant competition. To that end the Blitzboks have a “back to zero” process that helps guide them through that potential pitfall. Rookies Quewin Nortje and Katlego Letebele may take a while to grow accustomed to it.

The Blitzboks celebrate their wins but will be brought back to earth with a brutal opening training session the next week. It helps reset mind and body to the requirements of the next match day.

Ngcobo is desperate for his players to reacquaint themselves with what it means to play for the Blitzboks.

The coach, however, suffered a personal setback and will not be with the team as they launch their revival in Dubai. He suffered an achilles injury leaving Philip Snyman to take the reins.

It is the coach's wish for the team to go hard in Dubai and then come out blazing in Cape Town.

The Blitzboks will take on Samoa, Canada and New Zealand in Dubai which will put their revamp to the test from the get-go.