Ruthless Blitzboks claim hollow World Series win in season of turmoil

Blitzbok coach Neil Powell made all the right noises after winning the Edmonton leg of the HSBC World Sevens Series on Monday, which confirmed South Africa’s fourth title, but it rang a little hollow.

The history books will forever reflect that the Blitzboks added to their 2009, 2017 and 2018 titles with the 2021 crown, but this season, the 10-leg series was reduced to two tournaments.

Both were played in Canada – in Vancouver and Edmonton – and both were won by the Blitzboks. But they didn’t include perennial World Series powerhouses Fiji and New Zealand, who have 17 World Series titles between them, and the rising force of Argentina.

The decision by World Rugby to award a World Series title for a “competition” that was eight tournaments shorter than a usual campaign, and didn’t feature two of the three best teams, was a curious one.

In 2020, the series was cut short when the pandemic struck midway through, meaning New Zealand claimed the title with only six rounds played. That wasn’t ideal, but with 60% of tournaments completed, it sat more comfortably.

As Covid continued to cut a swathe through global sporting calendars in 2021, it became obvious that the Sevens World Series was set to be a victim of cancellations again.

As tournaments were culled from the schedule – Cape Town being one of the casualties – World Rugby, like all other sporting bodies, was left to operate in a crisis mode.

It’s unclear how much money World Rugby has lost with the cancellation of tournaments, but the figure must run into the hundreds of millions of rands. Losing the Cape Town Sevens has cost SA Rugby R35-million alone.

The Olympic Games further contracted the window of where and when they could make up time to reschedule tournaments. Tokyo 2020 was always going to be the focal point of the season and that was the main priority for all teams.

The Blitzboks slumped at the Olympics, losing to eventual bronze medallists Argentina in the quarterfinals while Fiji claimed gold and New Zealand silver in the men’s section.

Failure at the Olympics for Powell’s men – who played as Team SA in Tokyo and not as the Blitzboks – forced a rethink in approach.

Powell opted to back younger players for the Canada trip for South Africa’s first World Series games in 18 months. In a two-tournament shootout, with the chance to add another World Series crown against a weakened field to the Blitzboks’ impressive body of work over the past nine years, backing new blood was a worthwhile gamble.

Powell as head coach has now overseen three of the four titles South Africa has won, and while the 2021 title will always have an asterisk next to it, the Blitzboks beat what was in front of them.

Unbeaten run

The Blitzboks claimed the Vancouver leg of the World Series last weekend as well, going unbeaten in their 12 matches in Canada, which Powell attributed to the coming together of their defence and attack.

Muller du Plessis, now one of the team’s senior players, scored 11 tries in Edmonton, which equalled Seabelo Senatla’s single-tournament try-scoring record from Dubai in 2016. Du Plessis was one of the “older” players who really moved into a higher gear in Canada.

Muller du Plessis looks for support during the Blitzboks' match against Kenya on day two of the HBC Canada Sevens at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Canada on 26 September 2021. (Photo: P Yates / World Rugby)