Ricardo Duarttee reveals Blitzboks’ 'big work-on’ before SVNS Vancouver

Playmaker Ricardo Duarttee has emphasised South Africa’s key “work-on” ahead of this month’s HSBC SVNS Series event in Vancouver from February 21-23, as the Blitzboks look to improve on their fourth-place finish at Perth’s HBF Park in January.

With thousands of South African rugby fans watching on at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium late last year, the Blitzboks emerged as a genuine force on the Series this season when they beat Olympic gold medallists France 26-14 in that event’s Men’s Cup final.

Zain Davids, Ryan Oosthuizen and Impi Visser had all impressed, and with the return of World Rugby’s Sevens Dream Team member Selvyn Davids from injury in Perth, South Africa were widely tipped to challenge for another title under the scorching sun.

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But, after a dominant 19-nil quarter-final win over Men’s SVNS Series leaders Fiji, the Blitzboks fell to Australia in a golden point showdown in the semi-finals. The Boks were left to battle it out with Spain for third place and went down swinging by seven points in that clash.

As is the nature of sevens, the Blitzboks haven’t had to wait too long for another opportunity to challenge for a title. With SVNS Vancouver taking place in just over one week, the South Africans have been working hard to address an area of concern.

“We actually had a really good training session today, especially just figuring out our defence, trying to find pressure points where we can create turnovers but not get penalised,” Duarttee said in a video on the Blitzboks Instagram page.

“That was our big work-on for us – working on our discipline, not getting as much penalties as we did in Perth.

“I’m really trying to work on my conversions,” he added later. “I’m not too happy with my conversions and just taking on a little bit more actually, trying to make space in that defence and just creating more options for my teammates.”

 

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Coach Philip Snyman has named a strong squad for Vancouver, but the absence of the highly-experienced Zain Davids is a talking point. Davids has been replaced by Sebastiaan Jobb, who is set to return to the SVNS Series for the first time in almost two years.

Tristan Leyds has also been recalled, taking the place of Dewald Human in the 13-man squad. Ryan Oosthuizen, Duarttee, Ronald Brown, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Shilton van Wyk, Quewin Nortje, Donavan Don, David Brits and Zander Reynders have also been selected.

Visser and Davids will co-captain the side.

South Africa start their campaign off with a blockbuster against arch-rivals New Zealand before also facing Ireland and Australia in pool play. The Blitzboks have claimed the title twice at BC Place Stadium (2019 and 2021) and they’re intent on making history once again.

“Both Tristan and Sebastiaan will add to the dynamics of the squad and I know they will be very competitive in their pool matches against New Zealand, Ireland and Australia,” coach Snyman said in a statement.

“Sebastiaan’s inclusion is well deserved and he worked very hard over the last couple of months. In fact, he was already close to selection for the Olympic Games last year. He was unlucky with untimely injuries over the last couple of seasons, but he is ready to play.

“We prefer it that way, as you need to be switched on from the start – in fact, the tougher the start, the better we do as we saw in Cape Town earlier in the Series,” he added about the team’s schedule in Vancouver.

“We have done analysis on all teams before the season started and will finetune our approach once we see what squads they selected, but the main focus will always be on ourselves and how we want to play the game.”

Blitzboks squad for Vancouver

#2 Ryan Oosthuizen – 52 tournaments, 225 points (45 tries)
#3 Impi Visser (co-captain) – 42 tournaments, 215 points (43 tries)
#5 Ricardo Duarttee – 15 tournaments, 248 points (19 tries, 75 conversions, 1 penalty goal)
#7 Ronald Brown – 18 tournaments, 394 points (40 tries, 97 conversions)
#8 Selvyn Davids (co-captain) – 38 tournaments, 701 points (92 tries, 119 conversions, 1 penalty goal)
#11 Siviwe Soyizwapi – 56 tournaments, 760 points (152 tries)
#12 Shilton van Wyk – 23 tournaments, 210 points (42 tries)
#14 Quewin Nortje – 9 tournaments, 125 points (25 tries)
#15 Donavan Don – 6 tournaments, 45 points (9 tries)
#16 Sebastiaan Jobb – 2 tournaments, 10 points (2 tries)
#19 David Brits – 6 tournaments, 40 points (8 tries)
#21 Zander Reynders – 2 tournaments, 0 points
#24 Tristan Leyds – 7 tournaments, 106 points (14 tries, 18 conversions)