The Blitzboks have taken a number of positives out of their performance at the Cape Town Sevens despite suffering a defeat in the final against England.

The Springbok Sevens were favourites to retain the Cup they had won last year, but England stunned the hosts 19-17 in Sunday’s final to win their first-ever title on South African soil.

Defeat notwithstanding, the Blitzboks maintained their lead at the top of the World Rugby Sevens Series log, and coach Neil Powell said the Blitzboks should not be judged on the result, but on their overall performance over the past fortnight.

‘We played well in Dubai and made the final in Cape Town, although we’re very disappointed that we could not win this for the wonderful local supporters, we have won 11 of our 12 matches in the last two weeks and that is something we are proud of and pleased about.

‘We did not play well enough in the final, though, and England managed to close our space down,’ he added.

Captain Philip Snyman echoed Powell’s sentiments, saying he is really proud of what they achieved in the lead-up to the final.

‘Obviously the result in the final was a dampener, but we did some good things as well, and will be going into a break now knowing that a lot of our structures are working well.’

Meanwhile, Blitzboks stars Chris Dry, Philip Snyman and Werner Kok were all included in the tournament Dream Team selected by commentators at the conclusion of the event.

The Springbok Sevens will next be in action at the Wellington Sevens at the end of January, where they have been drawn in a challenging pool with Fiji, Australia and Japan.

The top five teams on the standings are:
1. South Africa 41
2. England 39
3. Fiji 32
4. Scotland 27
5. New Zealand 27

Picture: @Blitzboks/Twitter