ictorius Blitzbokke in Dubai
The pools for the third round of the HSBC Sevens World Series in South Africa were drawn in Dubai with hosts South Africa heading Pool A.
World Rugby has confirmed the pool draw for the Cell C Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens, round three of the HSBC Sevens World Series 2014 / 2015 on 13-14 December 2014.
After their Cup win at the second round of the Series in Dubai, hosts South Africa are top seeds and head Pool A, while runners-up Australia, third-placed Fiji and the fourth semi-finalist New Zealand head the remaining pools.
The Blitzbokke in the meantime maintain that their feet are firmly on the ground.
Captain Kyle Brown says that it is hard to carry momentum in the World Series as each tournament is a separate entity.
The BlitzBokke began the World Series with a fourth place finish on the Gold Coast in Australia when they lost 19-0 to England in the third and fourth play off.
Brown and his team managed to bounce back last week when they claimed the title in the Dubai desert with an emphatic 33-7 victory over Australia in the Cup Final.
Although the BlitzBokke are improving as the Series progresses, the captain is cautious about riding the momentum stating that it is almost like starting anew.
“I don’t want to say that we have to start exactly from scratch, but Sevens is one of those games where we are not going to be able to use the momentum from last week in Dubai,” Brown said in preparation for South Africa’s home leg in Port Elizabeth.
“Last week was a tournament on its own and this week in Port Elizabeth is going to be a tournament on its own that we are going to have to go to the very end.”
The BlitzBokke are defending champions in PE and Brown is not wanting that pressure, coupled with the new found pressure of being recent Cup winners to distract his charges.
“You don’t want to apply too much pressure on the guys, just that they go out and enjoy their time at home.
“It is the one opportunity they get to play at home on the circuit,” he added.
However, this does not mean that the Sevens team will be taking things easy as they prepare for the quick one week turn around.
“These days everybody does video analysis and of course we have some chinks in our armour so they [the opposition] will be doing their analysis on us and we will be doing ours on them,” he said.
“We have got to make sure we sharpen up this weekend so that everything goes well.
One thing the BlitzBokke will be able to carry through with them from the desert is good lessons learnt at this early stage in the Series.
“After the weekend we had in Dubai, to get home and make sure that we make this weekend count is going to be very important for us.
Fixtures:
All times are SA Time (CAT – GMT+2)
December 2014 |
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| 13 | Fiji | v | France | 10:30 |
| 13 | Scotland | v | Canada | 10:52 |
| 13 | Australia | v | Portugal | 11:14 |
| 13 | Argentina | v | Zimbabwe | 11:36 |
| 13 | New Zealand | v | Samoa | 11:58 |
| 13 | England | v | Japan | 12:20 |
| 13 | South Africa | v | USA | 12:42 |
| 13 | Wales | v | Kenya | 13:04 |
| 13 | Fiji | v | Canada | 13:46 |
| 13 | Scotland | v | France | 14:08 |
| 13 | Australia | v | Zimbabwe | 14:30 |
| 13 | Argentina | v | Portugal | 14:52 |
| 13 | New Zealand | v | Japan | 15:14 |
| 13 | England | v | Samoa | 15:36 |
| 13 | South Africa | v | Kenya | 15:58 |
| 13 | Wales | v | USA | 16:20 |
| 13 | France | v | Canada | 17:04 |
| 13 | Fiji | v | Scotland | 17:26 |
| 13 | Portugal | v | Zimbabwe | 17:48 |
| 13 | Australia | v | Argentina | 18:10 |
| 13 | Samoa | v | Japan | 18:52 |
| 13 | New Zealand | v | England | 19:14 |
| 13 | USA | v | Kenya | 19:36 |
| 13 | South Africa | v | Wales | 19:58 |
| 14 | A3 | v | D4 | 10:51 |
| 14 | C3 | v | B4 | 11:13 |
| 14 | D3 | v | A4 | 11:35 |
| 14 | B3 | v | C4 | 11:57 |
| 14 | A1 | v | D2 | 12:19 |
| 14 | C1 | v | B2 | 12:41 |
| 14 | D1 | v | A2 | 13:03 |
| 14 | B1 | v | C2 | 13:25 |
| 14 | Loser Match 25 | v | Loser Match 26 | 14:07 |
| 14 | Loser Match 27 | v | Loser Match 28 | 14:29 |
| 14 | Winner Match 25 | v | Winner Match 26 | 14:51 |
| 14 | Winner Match 27 | v | Winner Match 28 | 15:13 |
| 14 | Loser Match 29 | v | Loser Match 30 | 15:55 |
| 14 | Loser Match 31 | v | Loser Match 32 | 16:17 |
| 14 | Winner Match 29 | v | Winner Match 30 | 16:39 |
| 14 | Winner Match 31 | v | Winner Match 32 | 17:01 |
| 14 | Winner Match 33 | v | Winner Match 34 | 17:43 |
| 14 | Winner Match 35 | v | Winner Match 36 | 18:08 |
| 14 | Winner Match 37 | v | Winner Match 38 | 18:33 |
| 14 | Loser Match 39 | v | Loser Match 40 | 18:58 |
| 14 | Winner Match 39 | v | Winner Match 40 | 19:30 |
The 2014 / 2015 season carries added significance because the top-ranked sides after the ninth and final round in London in May 2015 will qualify directly for the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.
HSBC Sevens World Series Standings:
| Team | AUS | DUB | RSA | USA | NZL | JPN | HKG | SCO | ENG | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fiji | 22 | 17 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 39 |
| 2 | South Africa | 15 | 22 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 37 |
| 3 | Australia | 10 | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 29 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 13 | 15 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 28 |
| 5 | Samoa | 19 | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 27 |
| 6 | England | 17 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 27 |
| 7 | Argentina | 12 | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 25 |
| 8 | Wales | 10 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 |
| 9 | Scotland | 5 | 12 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 |
| 10 | France | 7 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 |
| 11 | USA | 8 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13 |
| 12 | Portugal | 5 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 10 |
| 13 | Canada | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 |
| 14 | Kenya | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 |
| 15 | Japan | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 |
| 16 | Brazil | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| 17 | American Samoa | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 |
Following the pool draw for round three of the Series, which was made before the Cup final at 7he Sevens Stadium, South Africa head Pool A in Port Elizabeth and face Wales, USA and Kenya.
Dubai runners-up Australia will play Argentina, as well as Portugal and Zimbabwe in Pool B.
Series leaders Fiji head Pool C as the third-placed team in Dubai and face Scotland, France and Dubai Shield winners Canada.
The reigning Series champions New Zealand, meanwhile, will play England, who they beat in the Dubai quarter finals, Samoa and Japan.