All Blacks Sevens veteranâs candid assessment of âtoughâ day in Cape Town
Walking in silence away from the buzzing fandom of supporters, the All Blacks Sevens were visibly disappointed as they walked down the Cape Town Stadium tunnel on Saturday.
For a team that harboured genuine ambitions of winning it all at the Cape Town SVNS this weekend, New Zealandâs quest had taken a tough blow with a 21-14 loss to rivals Samoa in the early evening.
That defeat sealed the All Blacks Sevensâ uncharacteristically poor finish in Pool C, with an earlier loss to surprise package Canada seeing the Kiwis finish in third place.
New Zealand managed to record what seemed to be a statement 35-5 win over Trans-Tasman foe Australia in between those other games, but their success was short-lived in the end.
With their entire Cape Town SVNS campaign hanging in the balance, the New Zealanders walked towards their changeroom in silence â with some players looking blankly at the ground.
It was almost painfully clear how visibly upset the players seemed to be after a âpatchyâ day at the office, but veteran Scott Curry took a moment to affirm that the team âcan be a lot better.â
âI felt we didnât really get into the game in that last one,â Curry told RugbyPass.
âI mean we could see what we do when we get a bit of ball and play well against Australia but the World Series is tough these days.
âEvery game is tough so youâve got to be on every single time, every minute, every game.
âWe probably didnât quite play as well as we wanted to in that last game but I think weâre taking what weâre doing in preparation around our analysis of other teams and weâre actually putting it onto the park,â he added.
âWe just need to be a little bit tidier around our ball retention. Thatâs probably the only thing thatâs going to kill us, I think.â
The All Blacks Sevens couldnât have started the match any better, and maybe thatâs what made the terrible taste of defeat so bitter and tough to swallow.
Ngarohi McGarvey-Black pounced on a bouncing ball to race down the field, with the playmaker throwing an ambitious cut-out pass to Sione Molia for a try after just 14 seconds.
But the All Blacks Sevensâ next score wouldnât come until the last minute, with three tries for Samoa seeing the Pacific Islanders race out to a somewhat comfortable 21-7 lead.
While Scott Curryâs try in the final minute offered the New Zealanders a glimmer of hope, it wasnât to be as Samoa held on for a promising victory.
âItâs always a big physical battle against our Samoan brothers. It was sort of tit for tat there and probably just guilty of giving away possession a little bit too easily,â Curry said.
âThey took their opportunities when they had them and we couldnât fight our way back into it that time.â
With the new-look SVNS series granting two third-placed sides safe passage through to the quarter-finals, the All Blacks Sevens were handed a lifeline in South Africa.
New Zealand have progressed through to the cup quarter-finals where theyâll face Ireland â who beat hosts South Africa in the final game on day one â at 10.56 am local time.
That last try made all the difference giving us a bonus point loss. Otherwise we were out of the 1/4s. As it is, we get Ireland, probably a better (but still very difficult) option than Blitzboks, Fiji or Los Pumas.
Still, none of this matters as it all comes down to a Top 8 winner take all finals round, the week after the 7 qualifying tourneys.
On another note, great hearing the Aussie commentator spluttering away in disbelief as we made our way to HT at 35-0 lmao.
Got complacent after last yr. Defence fizzling out.
Canada đł wow