Hong Kong triumph inspires Blitzboks ahead of World Championship in Spain

The back story of their first victory in Hong Kong was written daily at the Springbok Sevens team’s training base in Stellenbosch, the place they will return to as they start their next mission, the HSBC SVNS World Championship Valladolid in Spain next month.

Blitzboks sweeper Ronald Brown said once they have had a rest from their trip to the Far East, they will get back for the next chapter of their season.

Brown insisted their 35-7 final win over Argentina in Hong Kong — South Africa’s first title at the “home of sevens” since they first made the trip for the Rugby World Cup Sevens in 1997, when they were beaten in the final by Fiji — will not create a false sense of security but rather inspire them to work even harder.

“The win that eluded so many Blitzbok sides was huge and we are all so relieved the bogey is no more,” Brown said.

“More importantly from that win, though, was the way we achieved it. We again realised that if we play the way our coaches have prepared us, we are a hard team to beat. And if we execute, we will have success.

“It was also a mental win for us; we started poorly on day one but once we applied our minds, success followed, so that was another reminder that we need to be ready, not only physically but mentally too.”

The Blitzboks return to the training field next week to start preparing for the Spain leg, to be played from May 31, where they will face Australia, Kenya and Britain in Pool A.

Argentina, New Zealand, Uruguay and Germany will play in Pool B while Spain, Fiji, France, and the US will play in Pool C.