They say there’s no place like home, and that especially rung true for the Blitzboks yesterday as they arrived at their hotel ahead of the Cape Town Sevens tournament this weekend.
It was a disappointing finish to the Dubai Sevens last weekend, where the South Africans lost 24-17 to New Zealand in the quarter-finals to end their remarkable run of five consecutive tournament wins in the UAE.
They then went down 17-15 to France in the fifth-place play-off as well, so coach Philip Snyman and his team have a lot to play for at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday and Sunday. But Leyds – the younger brother of Springbok utility back Dillyn – believes that the Blitzboks have the ability to turn things around this weekend in a tournament that they last won in the 2015/16 season.
Their spirits would have been lifted by the traditional buoyant welcome – with singing and dancing – they received from the hotel staff after enjoying a day off following their arrival from Dubai.
Warm welcome for the @Blitzboks at their hotel for the @CapeTown7s @SVNSSeries #Blitzboks #Sevens #Rugby pic.twitter.com/6zNtWZ4Enu
— Ashfak Mohamed (@ashfakmohamed) December 3, 2024
“It’s good to be back, especially the couple of hours we had to spend some time with family – just get back to ground zero for me especially... Just to remind myself where I’m coming from,” said the 27-year-old Leyds, who hails from Strand.
“Those couple of hours with family was just amazing, especially to get a home-cooked meal, after a week’s worth of meat in Dubai. Strand is still holding up out there! The wind is just going crazy.
“Being the only home tournament we have, it adds a bit of pressure on the boys. But like I said, we are focused on the job at hand and if we stick to the things that we do and what we are good at, I think it will fall into place.”
The biggest issue Leyds felt was problematic in Dubai was their ball retention, and they will have to tweak that approach in Saturday’s opener against Ireland (11.44am), which will be followed by Argentina (6.41pm).
Both are must-win encounters in what is a new format for the Cape Town event – which will also be adopted at the Singapore Sevens due to player welfare concerns with back-to-back tournaments – where there are only two pool matches, with the four pool winners going straight through to the semi-finals.
“In Dubai, the thing that cost us the most in terms of ball possession was that when we did create turnovers, we kind of played a phase or two and then look for kick-space – trying to get in behind teams,” former Western Province fullback Leyds said.
🏉 Coach’s Orders! 🗣️#Blitzboks coach Philip Snyman has one request: Come to the @CapeTown7s! 🌍🔥
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) December 3, 2024
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“Whereas normally, we would just put up an extra phase or two, and hold onto the ball. I know we are a really good team at maintaining ball possession.
“But it’s just those lapses in concentration, where we try things out of the ordinary – out of our basic structure – and then we give ball possession away.
“The format is definitely a challenging one. The margin for error is a bit small. I know if you top your pool and you go through, it’s only four games in total over the weekend – which is quite different on the body, which is used to five or six games.
“With the time we had off now, it was good that we could rest, reset and refuel our bodies. At least by Thursday, this team will be 100 percent recovered, and we can go into the tournament with 100 percent energy.
“It’s easy for us to get back to ground zero, because over the past years, we’ve been number one in Dubai – and this time around, we were unsuccessful.
“So, it’s not like we are on a pedestal or anything like that. We are on the ground now and have something to prove – and we can lift it from where we left off in Dubai.”