Joel Stransky, a member of South Africa’s Rugby World Cup 1995-winning side, will be on the commentary team for round two of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2016-17 in Cape Town this weekend.
He shared his thoughts on South Africa’s win in Dubai and what makes Cape Town a special place to visit this week.
I only caught the end of the opening round in Dubai because I was away on a mountain bike training camp, but what I saw was some real brilliance by the Blitzboks, in attack but even more so in defence and at the breakdown.
There is clearly now a great rivalry building between us, the Blitzboks, and Fiji. The Fijians, who are big and powerful and incredible athletes, were so unbelievably good against England in the semi-finals that I thought it was going to be quite tough for the Blitzboks. But in the final the Blitzboks were just really accurate and, most importantly, made one or two crucial tackles and then won turn over possession.
Most teams can look after the ball and string 20 or 30 passes together and a few phases, but if you are strong defensively and at the breakdown, you don’t allow opposition quick ball and the result is that attack becomes a little bit more difficult.
South Africa were determined and courageous, and made one or two tackles that other teams might not have made. Fiji would have scored in these situations against most other teams, and from one of these, we turned the ball over and went and scored down the other end. A decisive moment and match winning moment.
The Blitzboks had that real look of true grit about them in Dubai and they looked ‘properly up for it’. And for all of us South African rugby fans, after a disappointing 15s season, it is just the tonic we needed!”
Weight of expectation
The Blitzboks return home now to Cape Town, not only as Dubai winners, but also the defending champions. Sometimes it is harder to win at home because you have that added local pressure, but I think they have become a team that have become very good at handling all types of pressure. I think they may even enjoy the pressure of local expectations and a hugely partisan crowd. It will excite them more than it inhibits them and I think Cape Town will bring out the best in our Blitzboks … hopefully!
Cape Town is an incredible city, a global and iconic city with Table Mountain as a back drop on one side of the stadium and on the other the deep blue Atlantic Ocean. The setting is just incredible, and could not be more perfect.
It’s early December and South Africans are already kicking into holiday mode so Cape Town is abuzz; it is busy and the weather, while it might be a little breezy, is already hot. With that holiday spirit taking over, Capetonians and holidaymakers are looking for something to do and the 7s is both a brilliant sports spectacle and a great social event.
Capetonians and South Africans have embraced it. I have friends coming down from Johannesburg and Durban, because of the great sporting occasion but even more for the social side. They want to see the 7s, this incredibly thrilling and entertaining game being played, but they also make a tour of it because of the social aspects. And the fact that the Blitzboks are successful and win tournaments and are the defending champs, and now won in Dubai, means there is something really positive to shout about and enjoy!
South African rugby has had a disappointing year. Our media is still very much filled with uncertainty around the Springboks and Allister Coetzee, the sentiment in the weekend newspapers was very negative so for the Blitzboks to come out and play so well in Dubai was inspiring to all South Africans and sports lovers.”
African pride
It was the lift that South African rugby needs at the moment and I think that will add to the whole fan experience of the Cape Town Sevens. Fans are tired of watching the Springboks lose – they want to be upbeat, to be inspired and to support a winning team. This is the opportunity to do just that, to witness this incredible event and support a team that is representative of all South Africans and is achieving great success.
I’m not only looking forward to seeing South Africa play though this weekend. Fiji are big, strong and powerful and they move the ball around well, always looking to offload! They got caught out in the final but up until then they looked invincible!
New Zealand seem to be at the lower end of the cycle at the moment, but they are too proud a nation to not come back. And it was fantastic to see Wales in particular, and Scotland, stepping up on the circuit. And as Africans, it’s great to see Uganda involved and hopefully Kenya will produce a good performance. If we want to grow the game in Africa we do need the likes of Uganda to be playing and playing competitively. The nature of sport is that the underdog does tend to get some real support from the neutrals and it will be no different here. They will get that here because Africans are true to heart, they will go out and passionately support Uganda and the Kenya.”
An incredible weekend
For Kenya, having seen the heights they have reached at times, they will want to do better than in Dubai. For Uganda, it is all about being there and competing, and hopefully excelling, on the global stage.
The draw has certainly given us a few tough pools this weekend, and South Africa can certainly consider themselves unlucky as they do appear to have tough draw. USA have been a great side for a few years, as are Australia and one of Australia, South Africa or the USA is going to go out in the pool stages. Then you have England, New Zealand and Argentina in Pool C in the same scenario, while you would have to fancy Wales and Scotland to come through Pool D and if Kenya can step up then maybe they can pip France to the top half of that pool.
Anything can happen at any given moment, which is what makes this game so incredibly exciting. For us South Africans, we are ever hopeful that our Blitzboks can continue where they left off in Dubai and once again give us something to celebrate. We’re all set for another incredible weekend of sevens in Cape Town!