Powell looking for Dubai boost after ‘unsatisfactory’ Gold Coast
South Africa head coach Neil Powell is looking ahead to rounds two and three of the HSBC Sevens World Series with an eye to the consistent form his side enjoyed last season.
After finishing fourth in the opening round in Australia Powell admits he was not satisfied with his team’s performances and is searching for a first Cup win in Dubai since 2008.
With a spot at stake for sevens’ debut at the Olympics in Rio 2016, Powell knows his side need to stay in the top four to qualify and welcomes back captain Kyle Brown for round two, as well as handing a debut to Blue Bulls’ Warrick Gelant. Here Powell answers our questions on the series so far, and his squad.
Neil, were you satisfied with your performances in Australia?
The quarter-final was a close affair and we had to work hard to win that particular match, but we were not pleased with our overall performance and to lose our next two matches was particularly disappointing. We had some niggles going into the tournament and some players joined us late because of provincial commitment, but that is no excuse for our below par performances on day two. Our decision making was off the mark and we made a lot of handling errors.
You are still fourth and in one of those Olympic qualifying slots, so what have you been doing since Australia to improve ahead of Dubai and your home tournament?
We have been working hard the past few weeks at our training base in Stellenbosch and also added some new faces to our training squad, so I expect an improvement in Dubai and Port Elizabeth where we are the defending champions. It’s is a big season for all the teams and we realise that we can’t afford to look to far ahead. A lot of our focus last year was to get some consistency back, and that will be one of our major aims again this year. We are working hard on the basics and if we can achieve our team goals then the results will look after themselves.
Are you happy with your squad for the next two rounds?
Rugby sevens is a very demanding sport and we realise we have to integrate players into our system if we are planning to look at them in the future. Ruhan Nel made his debut in Australia, and Cheslin (Kolbe) and Ryno (Benjamin) are familiar with our set-up already. Kyle (Brown) is coming along nicely and it is great to have him back in the squad for Dubai. Injuries are part of the game, a reality that every coach and his staff have to manage. I can assure you we will have a very competitive squad in Dubai.
Courtesy of World Rugby
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