The Blitzboks will be hoping to carry the momentum from their historic win in Hing Kong into the second World Championship tournament in Spain this weekend.
Image: Zach Franzen / World Rugby
The Blitzboks may sit at the summit of the HSBC SVNS World Championship standings, but captain Impi Visser believes there is little value in dwelling on what has already been achieved.
Instead, the South Africans have arrived in Valladolid for the second leg of the three-stop championship series focused on ensuring they do not undo their hard work with another sluggish tournament start.
The Blitzboks lead the standings on 20 points after their triumph in Hong Kong, ahead of Argentina (18), Spain (16), New Zealand (14) and Fiji (12), but Visser warned that the margins at the business end of the season are too fine for complacency.
South Africa recovered from a slow opening in Hong Kong to eventually claim the title, but Visser admitted they cannot afford to place themselves under similar pressure this weekend.
They edged Uruguay 12-7 in a tense opener, were stunned 31-12 in their next pool match before recovering with a 38-0 thrashing of Argentina.
“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,” said Visser.
“The focus now moves to Great Britain, who are really good at the breakdown; Kenya, who are so physical so if you don’t show up on defence it’s going to be a long day; and then Australia, who are very skilful. It is going to be a competitive pool and we need to be at our best.”
The Blitzboks face Great Britain and Kenya on Friday before wrapping up their Pool A campaign against Australia on Saturday at Estadio Jose Zorrilla.
Visser said the squad’s motivation remains rooted in the goals they set at the beginning of the season, when they committed themselves to rebuilding a squad culture capable of consistently competing for titles.
“We have met most of the objectives we set for ourselves, but it is not done as we’ve not achieved everything we committed to,” he said. “We have done good things thus far, but we must keep reminding ourselves and pushing each other that the job is not done yet.”
South Africa’s preparations were slightly disrupted by travel delays after arriving in Spain on Monday, leaving them with only one full-intensity field session before the tournament. However, Visser said the squad quickly settled into the conditions.
“We had some time post Hong Kong to work on some soft skills and fine-tuned our strategies for this tournament, so we came prepared.” he said.
The Blitzboks have also been boosted by the return of Dewald Human, Ricky Duarttee and Gino Cupido, with the latter eager to make up for lost time after injury setbacks interrupted his season.
“It is great to be back, especially as I was cleared a bit earlier than originally planned, and to be part of the World Championship is great,” said Cupido.
“The timing of my injuries this year was not great, as I also missed the win in Cape Town and the special one in Hong Kong, but one thing about this squad, our wins are literally for everyone involved, whether we are part of the squad or back home.
“Rehab can be lonely but knowing that you are building your body to come back to this team makes it worth the while.”