Cape Town Sevens LIVE: Blitzboks vs Fiji – scores, result and kick-off time
In arguably the most eagerly-anticipated clash of the 2019-20 World Series to date, series leaders South Africa take on defending world champions Fiji in Cape Town at 13:51 on Saturday.
Fiji slumped to a shock pool stage exit in Dubai’s first leg of the season. They bounced back in their Cape Town Stadium opener against USA with a resounding 28-14 victory, suggesting that any complacency and rust has been shaken off.
It was up to the Blitzboks to show in the final game of the day against Japan that they are a match for their Pool A rivals. They did so in style with a 49-0 win, but coach Neil Powell is not getting carried away.
“I think we must be careful not to get over-complacent heading into those games tomorrow,” he told thesouthafrican.com.
“I’m happy with the start and happy with how it went in the first game, but we must make sure that we re-focus again when we come back tomorrow morning.”
It has only been a year since Kurt-Lee Arendse joined the SA Sevens Academy side, but on Friday night, he looked as if he was born to play for the Blitzboks. The 23-year-old ran in two first half tries against Japan.
“He’s a very talented player — someone that we obviously tried for the first time last year,” said Powell. “He’s good in attack, good in defence, and also good at the contact with their breakdowns. I’m very happy with how he’s developed over the last year.”
Powell did not watch Fiji’s game against USA, as he was preparing his own charges to take on Japan.
Come Saturday afternoon, he and his team may well have a clear idea of where they stand in terms of their quest not only for Cape Town Sevens Cup victory, but also the gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
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