Blitzbokke out to break Wellington hoodoo
by Brenden Nel 01 February 2012, 14:31
The Springbok Sevens team won’t be looking for revenge when they head into this weekend’s Wellington Sevens tournament, the latest leg on the HSBC World Series.
Instead they will be looking to improve their own play in a tournament they traditionally struggle in, to ensure that they take another step forward as a team in their quest to win the world crown.
Blitzbokke captain Kyle Brown was adamant that despite the loss to New Zealand in Port Elizabeth in December, the door had been closed on that tournament and the team had moved forward.
“We’re not disappointed at how we played in Port Elizabeth,” Brown told SuperSport.com, “We were happy at how we grew as a team in the three weeks together and we did our best. Now what we need to do is carry on that momentum. I don’t think we will get all emotional or talk about revenge over New Zealand. We want to do as well as we can.”
Brown acknowledges that Wellington hasn’t been their best stomping ground in the past, with the slower pitch not helping their pacy game plan much.
“We haven’t done fantastically but we will be using our same old recipe of not looking too far ahead. We have a tough pool against the Cook Islands, USA and England. All we will be looking for is a good start and to take it from there. We’ve got our work cut out for us."
Brown was keen to put in a good word for former Bulls midfielder Stephan Dippennaar, who will make his Blitzbokke debut this weekend.
“Dippies is a great player and what makes it easy is that he is a fantastic guy who fits into the culture of the squad very well. He takes all the hard work on his chin and loves it. He is definitely part of the family at the moment.”
After Wellington the Blitzbokke move to Las Vegas, where they won last year. But for now they will be looking to break their Wellington hoodoo, and pick up some valuable points with a good performance.
The Wellington Sevens will be broadcast live on SuperSport this weekend. The Blitzbokke open the tournament against the USA at 2am (CAT, GMT+2) and then face the Cook Islands at 4:56am. Their final game is at 9:50am when they face England. All games will be live on SuperSport1.