BlitzBokke their own worst enemies
Declining energy levels and unprecedented high unforced error counts are among the issues to be addressed by South Africa ahead of the next two Rounds of the World Sevens Series.
South Africa remain in pole position on the Sevens World Series log table, despite being knocked out in the semifinal stage for the second consecutive tournament - the BlitzBokke finishing third at the United States leg in Las Vegas at the weekend.
Fiji denied SA a third successive Cup final appearance in Vegas, when they won a closely fought semifinal 24-19 at the Sam Boyd Stadium, where South Africa have won the previous two Cup titles.
Fiji went on to beat arch rivals New Zealand 35-19 to lift the Cup, while South Africa bounced back to beat the tournament hosts, US, 31-0 in the play-off for third place.
The South Africans now have 93 points after two Cup wins and successive third place finishes so far this season.
They lead New Zealand by five points with Fiji third on 86. The top four teams at the end of the World Series qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
SA captain Kyle Brown admitted his team has become their own worst enemies, while coach Neil Powell spoke of the declining energy levels.
"When things don't quite go your way, you have to come out and maximise things going into that third-fourth-place play-off," Brown said of his team's 31-0 demolition of the US Eagles , after their disappointing exit in the quarterfinals.
He said the players showed great attitude to go out and play against a fired-up home team.
"It was important that we took away as many points as possible from the tournament," he said of the World Series title race.
He said that while being their our own wort enemies, they've showed what we are capable of in that second half against Fiji - allowing the Pacific Islanders to race into a 24-0 lead, before clawing their way back to trail 19-24 and in with a chance of snatching a late winner.
It was only a small error on the restart that saw Fiji hang on.
"We are a very handy team that can play some fantastic rugby when we are focused and played towards the plan," Brown said, adding: "A couple of loose balls and a couple of slip tackles and it is a different team altogether."
He said they will do some serious "introspection" when they get home and review the last two weeks.
"We are not going to change the entire recipe," the BlitzBokke skipper said, adding: "This is a talented team that can play some good rugby.
"The recipe is right, it is about maintaining that quality of rugby throughout the tournament."
Powell described Las Vegas as "another weekend of missed opportunities", pointing to two yellow cards (veteran Frankie Horne in the first half and Brown after the break) as major contributing factors.
"It is already tough to play against Fiji, but to get two yellow cards in that game and then to play with six guys for four minutes is always going to be tough," the coach said.
"Coming into the two tournaments [New Zealand and the United States] it was almost as if the guys were fed-up with rugby."
He said they will have a look at how they'll approach the game going into the next round in Hong Kong - from March 27 to 29.
"Maybe we'll work a little bit smarter and not keep the guys too long in camp," Powell said, adding: "We need to get the energy levels up and get them hungry to play Sevens again."
He said it was very frustrating that his team can play like they did in the 31-0 demolition of the US in third-fourth-place play-off, but couldn't do it against Fiji in the semifinal.
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