Strong start for SA at Las Vegas Sevens
Defending champions South Africa made a strong start at the Las Vegas Sevens early on Saturday morning (SA time) when they registered two convincing victories in Pool A.
The Springbok Sevens got their pool fixtures off to a flying start when they defeated Wales 43-0 in their first match. They then beat Canada 29-0 in their second and last match of the day. The defending champions impressed on attack and in defence and scored 72 points without conceding any.
South Africa’s remaining group match is 00:12 tonight against African rivals Kenya, nowadays coached by former Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu, followed by their Cup quarterfinal match two hours later.
Speedster Seabelo Senatla was the most impressive attacking player on display, scoring four tries in two matches in his first HSBC Sevens World Series tournament of the season. He missed the previous three rounds because of a lower back injury and his last appearance for the Springbok Sevens was last June during the Rugby Sevens World Cup in Moscow.
Against Wales, Junior Springbok wing Senatla scored three times while Justin Geduld and Branco du Preez each crossed over for a brace. Cecil Afrika kicked three conversions.
Senatla also opened the scoring against Wales to register his 20th World Series try while Du Preez again crossed the try line to hand South Africa a 12-0 halftime lead.
Skipper Brown, Geduld and Stephan Dippenaar added a try each for a comfortable 29-0 victory over Canada.
Afterwards team captain, Brown praised the team’s defensive display.
Brown commented: “We have unbelievable stars on attack but we worked on defence, to help each other when the line was breached. It was important for us to start well and I’m glad we did a good job on day one, especially on defence,” said Brown.
The South Africans are aiming to land their third title in three years in Las Vegas after tournament wins in 2011 and 2013 in the USA.
The Springbok Sevens (56 points) are currently trailing New Zealand by just two points on the World Series log. After finishing fourth at the Gold Coast and second in Dubai, they then lifted the Cup on an emotional day in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth in December.
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