Vipers surprise hosts Argentina in Final
Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:04
The young South African Vipers team surprised the strong Argentina national side by beating the hosts 29-7 in the Final of the Mar del Plata Sevens tournament with a performance which must have given Springbok coach Paul Treu much satisfaction.
Playing with only three Springboks and a group of inexperienced Under-21 players, Treu's main aim in the tournament was to give his charges some exposure at international level and hopefully to identify talent to bolster the South African national side.
They went one better in beating the team currently fifth on the IRB Sevens World Series log after overrunning Brazil 34-0 in the semifinal.
The win over Brazil was no canter, either. The South Americans had earlier beaten the United States side that competes in the IRB Series 19-0 in a pool match.
The Mar del Plata is a two-tier tournament, with the first phase being played between the South American championships - predictably won by Argentina who then went into the international phase with the other three semifinalists of the South American championships, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile.
With most of the Vipers playing in only their third or fourth Sevens tournament and in the first at this level, there is a new nucleus of depth that augurs well for South Africa's Sevens in the medium term.
Treu may consider one or two of the young Vipers for the national team for the next two legs of the International Rugby Board Series World Series - in Wellington
(February 5 and 6) and Las Vegas (February 13 and 14).
Those are two important tournaments if the Springboks want to retain a chance of successfully defending the IRB title they won last year.
While the contracted players in the national squad have gone about their training at Stellenbosch in the absence of Treu, the important phase of their preparations starts next week when Treu will hope to have his injured senior players Renfred Dazel and Neil Powell available.
SAPA
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