BlitzBoks must shed 'sleeping disease'
The BlitzBoks suffered a heartbreaking 26-27 loss to a never-say-die Scotland in the London Sevens Final – the last leg of the 2015/16 World Series and the last tournament before the Olympic Games in Rio in August – in the same agonising fashion that cost them so many other wins throughout the season.
In fact some cynics would claim they are 'chokers' – given the number of times they failed to close out key games.
In the end they finished 10 points behind back-to-back World Series winners Fiji – with a higher points differential than the Pacific Islanders, whom they had beaten in the London semifinal.
However, it was the failure to close out key games throughout the season that cost them most – such as in the Final in London.
The BlitzBoks were leading 21-10 with three minutes to go against Scotland at Twickenham on Sunday and were still ahead 26-15 with less than a minute to go.
However, a two-try blitz by the Scottish flyer Dougie Fife in a frenzied finish saw them snatch victory from South Africa in the most unlikely fashion.
A bitterly disappointed BlitzBoks captain Philip Snyman admitted the way they finished is a cause for concern.
"Well done to Scotland, who never stopped playing," Snyman said.
"We were caught napping at the end and paid the price.
"We also made too many errors.
"That said, we made the Final and finished second overall, so are keen to improve on that with the Olympics the next aim for us."
Snyman applauded Fiji for winning the series.
"They needed to slip up early, but unfortunately for us, they did not, so congratulations to them.
It was still a great year for us, but there was one of two wins that escaped us and had we claimed them, our lives would have been made much easier.
"I am still very proud of the boys," Snyman said.
However, looking towards the Olympics South Africa will have to eradicate those moments in key matches where they seem to 'go to sleep' and allow the opposition to wrest control and win.
It was not just in the Final where this 'sleeping disease' cost the BlitzBoks.
In the quarterfinal, where they hung on to edge Argentina 21-19, it was only a failed conversion by the opposition that saved them further embarrassment.
The BlitzBoks were leading 21-7 in the dying minutes – before conceding two tries and a yellow card and was only saved when Los Pumas' conversion drifted wide.
A week earlier, in the Cup quarterfinal in Paris, they went down 10-21 to Samoa – after also going into sleepwalking mode after taking an early 5-0 lead and allowing the Pacific Islanders to take the game away from them.
In the Singapore Cup semifinal they lost 21-26 to Fiji – who scored the match-winning try well into extra time.
And in the Hong Kong Cup semifinals New Zealand beat South Africa 12-7, after Kurt Baker had produced an outstanding cross-field kick to find Regan Ware for the match-winning score – having started the attack well inside their own 22-metre area and with the hooter for full-time having already sounded.
A similar scenario played itself out in the Vancouver Cup Final, where South Africa lost 14-19 to New Zealand. South African came back from 7-19 down – Seabelo Senatla scoring a crucial try to give the BlitzBoks a sniff. With little more than 10 seconds left on the clock South Africa though sent the restart straight into touch and New Zealand took the title.
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