Coach Neil Powell says the Blitzboks have been inspired by the gold medal success of their fellow Team South Africa athletes at the Commonwealth Games, writes CRAIG LEWIS.
The Blitzboks will be heading into action on the Gold Coast this weekend as they look to replicate their Commonwealth Games triumph in 2014, when they walked away with the sevens gold medal.
Since arriving in Australia, there has certainly been no shortage of motivation as they’ve watched a host of Team SA athletes emerge at the top of their respective fields.
It was a particularly special night for South Africa on Monday as Chad le Clos, Cameron van der Burgh and Tatjana Schoenmaker all claimed memorable wins in the pool, while Akani Simbine was crowned Commonwealth champion in the men’s 100m sprint.
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South Africa now lie fifth on the medal table with a total of 18 (eight gold, five silver, five bronze), and Powell said they could not help but be inspired.
‘It’s great to be part of a multi-sport event such as this one, and there are a lot of superstars in Team South Africa. We’ve seen a number of them already winning gold medals, so we’re drawing our inspiration from that. As a team, hopefully we can add to that medals table. It’s going to be a big challenge, but it’s one that we’ll be up for.’
Over the past couple of weeks, the Blitzboks opted to split up their squads – with a number of first-choice stalwarts heading with Powell and the management team to Australia to continue preparations for their Commonwealth Games campaign.
Meanwhile, academy coach Marius Schoeman led a young team to the Hong Kong Sevens, where they claimed a commendable third-place finish.
‘Those youngsters really did a phenomenal job,’ Powell enthused. ‘Credit must go to them for the way they went through the biggest tournament on the circuit – there won’t be a bigger stage than the Hong Kong Sevens. The most positive thing for me was the fact that they had six consistent games, there was not one where they were a bit off the pace.’
However, with attention now turning to the highly-anticipated Commonwealth Games tournament, Powell said they hoped an energised squad would be able to emulate some of their other successful countrymen and women.
‘We’re really looking forward to this tournament and there is a great energy among the guys. I think it was a good decision not to play this core group of players in Hong Kong; you need to get the balance right in terms of preparation and keeping the guys fresh. So now we can go full steam ahead into this tournament, and hopefully have some real energy on the field this weekend.’
The Blitzboks will begin their campaign with clashes against Malaysia, Papa New Guinea and Scotland on Saturday.
Photo: @Blitzboks/Twitter
