The ‘Blitz Bokke’ celebrate their first Cup title since 2011

by Paul Cook –

South Africa have romped to their first Cup win of the 2012/13 series with a comprehensive 40-21 demolition of New Zealand in the final. It is the ‘Blitz Bokke’s first Cup win since 2011 in London and came off the back of their most consistent tournament performance of the season, leaving them second on the series ladder behind the All Blacks Sevens.

It was fitting that these two old foes contested the tournament decider given the level of their performances on the first two days of competition. South Africa went through unblemished, with wins over Uruguay, Canada and last week’s runners-up, Kenya, before despatching Wales and Samoa en route to the final.

If their progress was impressive, New Zealand had everyone on red alert after the pool stages, achieving emphatic wins over France, Wales and Argentina and posting an impressive 78pts with only 10 in reply. That record was made even more imposing when you consider they came into the tournament minus the services of veteran skipper DJ Forbes, leading try scorer Kurt Baker and giant enforcer, Lote Raikabula.

After being edged out by Kenya in their home tournament only 6 days earlier, it looked like the reigning series champions were out to remind everyone of their number one status. Further victories over Canada and Fiji booked their date with South Africa, although a warning flag was raised when the ‘Flying Fijians’ took them to extra-time in the semi.

Lewis Holland of Australia topped the try scorers table over the weekend with 8 five pointers

Nevertheless, their history of success meant that they still came into the game as favourites so it was somewhat of a surprise when the ‘Blitz Bokke’ ran up a 28-0 lead by half-time.

The writing was on the wall after only 45 seconds, New Zealand failing to deal with the kick-off and allowing Warren Whiteley to open the scoring. Chris Dry added a second 4 minutes later and when Branco du Preez breezed through for try no.3 after only 8 minutes, head scratching from both benches would have been understandable.

South Africa simply swamped their opponents, refused to let them settle and took every opportunity with clinical precision. It must have been the stuff of dreams for long time coach Paul Treu. Dry profited from a poorly contested line out to cross for his second and his side’s fourth on the stroke of half-time and the referee’s whistle brought a close to as poor an opening half of football that New Zealand have put out for a long time.

They needed to score first after the break to harbour any ambitions of a comeback but it was South Africa who pounced again, du Preez snaffling up a loose ball in goal to dab down first and that was that. The All Blacks finally got on the board through Ben Lam and added some respectability to the scoreline with a couple of late consolations but this contest had been over almost as soon as it had started.

Coach Treu was simply pleased that his players had finally gained some reward after putting in the hard yards. “We’ve been saying it to the players all season that we’d put the hard work in back in Stellenbosch, we’ve paid the price and we’ve made the sacrifice but somehow, we couldn’t get the reward. Every win gives you more confidence and confidence breeds confidence and hopefully, we can use this is a platform to kick-start the rest of our season as well. Like they say, you must lose quickly and win slowly so we must just enjoy every single moment of this week.”

Scotland maintained their upward surge by reaching their second successive Plate Final but didn’t have enough to trouble the triumphant Canadians who ran out 22-5 winners in front of the closest thing they get to a ‘home’ crowd on the world circuit. It is the Canucks third trophy of an increasingly impressive season and once again, the talents of Sean Duke and Nathan Hirayama played a large part in their success.

Scotland can content themselves with the victory they achieved over the ‘Auld Enemy’, England, on day two, a result that knocked the champions of only six days ago in New Zealand out of Cup contention. The promises of a ‘fresh start’ following last weekend’s success now ring hollow and it was a case of back to normal for the Red Rose here with losses to Fiji, Portugal and Scotland forcing them into the lower half of the draw, where they eventually succumbed to defeat at the hands of France in the Bowl semi-final.

France’s Bowl victory over Argentina kept them in 5th place in the overall series standings

‘Les Bleus’ went on to thump Argentina 34-12 in the Bowl final which helps them maintain a place in the top five on the series ladder but they will want to be back contesting the Cup competition in the next few rounds if they wish to maintain that placing. Argentina would have enjoyed their 36-0 whitewash of neighbours Uruguay – the competition’s ‘wildcard’ side – in the semi-final but the Puma Sevens had nothing left in the tank when it mattered.

Another side with loftier ambitions, Australia, continued their winning ways by lifting the Shield trophy, their third consecutive silverware. They have now lifted the Plate, Bowl and Shield trophies – what price a Cup victory to complete the set before the season is out?

If they can hold onto Lewis Holland for the remainder of the year, their chances of achieving just that will improve immeasurably. The 19yr old crossed 8 times over the weekend to finish on top of the try scorers list. He’s quick, direct and elusive – one to watch out for.

World Series Standings after Round 5

1. NEW ZEALAND    96pts

2. SOUTH AFRICA    73pts

3. SAMOA                  71pts

4. FIJI                           66pts

5. FRANCE                  59pts

Round 6 takes place in Hong Kong on the weekend of the 22nd-24th March 2013