Cape Town – The Springbok Sevens are in a spot of bother in their quest to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris next year.
Only the top four teams in this season's World Rugby Sevens Series will qualify automatically, and currently the Blitzboks find themselves in seventh place.
They need two special performances in Toulouse and London next month and to win at least one of the tournaments to make sure they get enough points to jump up the log.
As things currently stand, France, the host nation, New Zealand (who already qualified via the Series), Argentina, Fiji and Australia will be the teams who qualify automatically.
The seventh-placed Blitzboks, if they do not get the points needed in the final two series tournaments in May, will then have to try and qualify via a regional tournament.
But here's where the trouble comes in for them.
The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) will then have the final say on whether or not the team will go if they do win a qualifying tournament.
In the past, Sascoc has barred teams like the Springbok Women Sevens and Proteas Hockey sides from going to the Olympics, even after they won their Africa qualifier for an Olympic spot.
The Springbok Women's Sevens won their regional tournament in 2015 and 2019 to qualify for the Games, but Sascoc's policy of not qualifying through regional tournaments applied to them.
That meant the South African Rugby Union could not send a women's team to the games in Rio de Janeiro (in 2016) and Tokyo (in 2021). Instead, those spots were taken up by fellow African nation Kenya.
The Blitzboks could find themselves in a similar position later this year if they do not pull up their socks in the Sevens Series.
If they fail in the next two tournaments, the Africa qualifier will be their destination.
And if they win the Africa qualifier, Sascoc will have to decide whether they will bend their rules to allow the Springbok Sevens to be a part of Team South Africa.
If it goes according to the strict qualification criteria, the Blitzboks might lose out on competing in a third successive Olympic Games. But if Sascoc sees the men as a realistic chance of winning a Games medal, they could allow them to still join Team South Africa.
They won bronze in Rio in 2016, but failed to make an impact at Tokyo 2020, where the team was seen as one of the favourites after a brilliant season.
A touch of good news for the Blitzboks is that injured playmakers Justin Geduld and Dewald Human will be ready to help the team push for the qualification spot in the final two tournaments.
They are back in training after lengthy injury lay-offs and are preparing with the side ahead of the last two tournaments in Europe.
The Blitzboks are expecting a few other senior players to return from injury as well, which will be a boost to the side in their bid to qualify directly for the Paris Games.
IOL Sport