Cape Town - A hat trick by Seabelo Senatla spearheaded the Blitzboks’ charge to the Dubai Sevens Cup final on Saturday as they dispatched Wales 36-5 in the last four.
But captain Philip Snyman knows that it’s all about grabbing the trophy, and he urged his teammates to keep up their intensity in the decider against Olympic champions Fiji (5.33pm SA time kickoff).
The Springbok Sevens continued where they left off from the morning, when they thrashed New Zealand 40-0 in the quarter-final, when they pulled off a set move to precision as Snyman and Werner Kok drew the defence up the middle before Senatla just had to walk over in the corner.
The marauding South African defence was too much to handle for the Welsh, with the likes of Snyman, Kok and even Branco du Preez and Senatla getting stuck in at the breakdowns to win penalties.
The rush defence tactic worked a charm once more, and all of that contributed to Senatla grabbing a hat trick in the first half already to put the Blitzboks 19-0 up at the break.
It was more of the same in the second half as Wales battled to string a few passes together, with Justin Geduld running in for a double.
But the Blitzboks have bigger fish to fry in the shape of the defending World Series winners Fiji, who held off a fierce challenge from England in the first semi-final to triumph 31-12.
“It’s going to take everything (to beat Fiji). I think we need to leave everything out on the field, there will be nothing after that. Fiji is one of the best, if not the best side on the circuit. So we need to be at our best. If we can shut them down and close them down on defence, and stop them from getting those offloads away, then we will be in with a good chance,” Snyman said.
“I think it all happened (for the Blitzboks) on the first day. We laid a solid foundation there and then we carried on and almost kicked into another gear this morning against New Zealand and now against Wales. So very proud of the guys, but we still need to keep our head on the ground as there is a big game awaiting us.
“That’s exactly what we want to achieve - the forwards doing the hard work, and if we can make a couple of turnovers and release the speedsters down the touchline, that’s what the game is all about. Hopefully we can produce the goods in the final as well.”
Neil Powell’s team were knocked out at the Cup quarter-final stage last year, so they have already improved their performance this time around. But now it’s all about swarming around the Fijians when they have the ball, and finishing their own chances to win the title.
POINTS-SCORERS
South Africa - Tries: Seabelo Senatla (3), Justin Geduld (2), Werner Kok. Conversions: Branco du Preez (2), Cecil Afrika (1).
Wales - Try: Ethan Davies.