The Springbok Sevens team continued their dominance in the United Arab Emirates by winning the season-opening Dubai Sevens for a record 11th time on Sunday.

The Blitzboks had a phenomenal season opener and capped it off by beating Argentina 12-7 in the Cup final on Sunday night. Impi Visser and Shilton van Wyk both scored for South Africa as they won the Cup final for the fifth consecutive year.

En route to the final they also beat Australia 24-7 in the quarter-finals and Fiji 14-7 in the semi-finals.

The Blitzboks interim coach and former captain, Philip Snyman, said they played for each other and the jersey.

“We had a very good pre-season and the guys showed that they were ready to play six tough matches.

“The way they worked, based on defence, also showed their willingness to work off the ball and cover each other’s backs and that is a wonderful thing for coaches to see."

“They said they were going to do it and backed that up with a wonderful performance over the last two days. They showed a lot of character, so all the credit to the players,” Snyman said.

“They really bring energy to the group and if you add that to the calm heads and experience of the older players, it is a good formula for success. We said we want to write a new book this year and the first chapter was a good one.”

This week the teams head to South Africa for the Cape Town Series that kicks off on Saturday.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport