BlitzBoks aiming to get it right in Singapore
Neil Powell's troops secured a 28-0 win over the USA in their quarter-final clash on Sunday, but came second to the Kiwis in the first semi of the day.
Frederick Tietjens's men beat the South Africans 12-7 after scoring the winning try in the second half of a match that went into sudden death, placing the Cape Town Sevens winners in the third-place final against Australia where they went on to win 14-12.
"We are South Africans, so will never be happy with third or second, but I think we are playing well at the moment," said the Springbok Sevens chief.
"You're going to go into tournaments and lose your first game and we need to know how to get over it and handle that first loss to move forward and keep the performance up. Credit to the guys and how they put that England game behind them and how they stood up and kept on fighting and showing heart in their performances over the last two days.
"I know the guys will keep on working hard, keep their heads up and we will get over that line soon. The new guys showed they wanted to be part of the team and I can only applaud the effort from the team."
Sunday marked the BlitzBoks' seventh consecutive semi-final in the series, but the South Africans have only managed to bag one tournment win (in Cape Town). Powell acknowledged that the BlitzBoks' losses in crucial matches is a cause for concern, but believes that they don't need to change anything to get over the final hurdle.
"It's something that we really work on and we're trying to get it right, but sometimes it's out of our hands," said Powell.
"Sometimes the guys really perform well and they don't get the results and we can just keep ding what we're doing. We don't need to change anything, I think at some stage we will get over that line. We just need to keep on grafting and coming together and fight the way they've fought over the last few days and hopefully we'll get over that line."
Having won 22 of their last 30 matches in the series, the BlitzBoks now slip to third on the overall World Rugby Sevens Series log with Hong Kong winners, Fiji (128), extending their lead by six points over the South Africans (122). Cathay finalists New Zealand move up to second from the third spot.
