Africa-Press – South-Africa. Blitzboks coach Sandile Ngcobo rues his side’s disappointing performance but is optimistic they can turn things around.
The Blitzboks lost to Australia in the fifth-place semi-final on Sunday in a desperately close 21-19 defeat.
The results in Toulouse saw Argentina and Fiji confirm their Olympic Games qualification after New Zealand did so in Singapore, leaving the fourth qualifier to be confirmed in London next weekend.
Australia is currently in the pound seats on 125 World Series points, leaving the Blitzboks, on 116 points, with a very small chance to overhaul the Aussies.
Ngcobo said the Blitzboks’ improvement during the tournament showed that some things were done well.
“I felt at times we did not quite get the rewards,” said Ngcobo.
“We had two weeks of good preparation in Stellenbosch and the five players coming back into the team integrated well. That showed in this tournament, as the guys came back into those high-profile matches and, at times, did well.
“There was frustration, especially in the first game on the opening day when we did not play well at all, but day two started well before we disappointed ourselves against Argentina.
“Against Australia, the bounce of the ball and a call or two did not favour us either and that made the difference.”
After losing their opening game against France, the Blitzboks hit back with big wins over Fiji and the USA to book their spot in the quarter-finals but lost to Argentina.
Ngcobo believes that there’s still a chance to turn their fortunes around in London.
“The season is not over for us, so there is still an opportunity to improve, and we are keen to grab it.”
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