Blitzboks captain Impi Visser wants his team to hit the ground running against Great Britain in Valladolid on Friday.
The Springbok Sevens are full of confidence after their historic triumph at the Hong Kong Sevens, where they bounced back from a heavy pool-stage defeat to Spain to clinch the title.
Visser, however, says the Blitzboks must be sharper from the outset in the second of three SVNS World Championship tournaments.
“We had a slow start in Hong Kong and then had to scramble to get back into it, and we don’t want that to happen again,” he said.
“The focus now moves to Great Britain, who are really good at the breakdown; Kenya, who are so physical; and then Australia, who are very skilful.
“It is going to be a competitive pool and we need to be at our best.”
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The Blitzboks had limited preparation time after arriving in Spain late on Monday, but Visser said the squad looked sharp in training.
“We have done good things so far, but we must keep reminding ourselves and pushing each other that the job is not done yet,” he said. “That fuels the fire in the squad.”
The South Africans have made three changes to the squad from Hong Kong, with Dewald Human, Ricardo Duarttee and Gino Cupido returning.
“We had some time post Hong Kong to work on some soft skills and fine-tuned our strategies for this tournament,” Visser added. “So we came prepared.”
Blitzboks’ Pool A fixtures (SA times)
Friday 29 May
12:34pm: Great Britain
5:08pm: Kenya
Saturday, 30 May
1:23pm: Australia
Photo: Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
