Ricardo Duarttee (front, centre) joins in with the festive welcome received by the Blitzboks at their Cape Town hotel yesterday. Photo: ASHFAK MOHAMED
Ricardo Duarttee has never been shy to speak his mind, and he was at it again yesterday ahead of this weekend’s Cape Town Sevens.
The Blitzboks battle ship first got stuck into the new format for the Cape event, which will see teams play just two pool games instead of three on Saturday, with the four pool winners going straight into Sunday’s semi-finals.
This has been adopted in order to assist the players in coping with tournaments on consecutive weekends, following the Blitzboks’ sixth-place finish at last weekend’s Dubai Sevens.
“I will honestly say that I am not crazy about it. I want to play as much as possible, and now we are only going to play four games this weekend,” ‘Tricky Ricky’ said yesterday after the team re-gathered at their hotel after a day off.
“I know some guys might think that it may be good for the body, but as an athlete, I am actually waiting for that sixth game, so that you can take teams on with the fatigue.
“Now the fewer games will allow teams to be fresher for that final. But at the moment, it doesn’t matter what the format is, we need to make sure that we use every opportunity we get on the field over the weekend.”
Warm welcome for the @Blitzboks at their hotel for the @CapeTown7s @SVNSSeries #Blitzboks #Sevens #Rugby pic.twitter.com/6zNtWZ4Enu
— Ashfak Mohamed (@ashfakmohamed) December 3, 2024
Duarttee was also asked about how he felt that the Cape Town Sevens also had to compete with the SA franchises participating in the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup this weekend, and he didn’t hold back either in giving his forthright views.
“I must say that I am a little disappointed in the – if I can say it in a nice way – the interest being shown in sevens,” the 26-year-old said.
“I feel that sevens is always looked down upon, especially in South Africa. I feel that there can be much more effort put in from SA Rugby’s side, to show more interest for the sevens.
“I am not 100 percent certain how, but I just feel as a sevens player – I haven’t played at that level in 15s – but I know that how I feel now, it takes a lot from a sevens player to run onto that field.
“It’s just seven guys on the same size field... One tackle missed, and it’s points (against you).
“So, for me, it feels almost as if people actually underestimate how difficult this game is. That’s why I say there can be a bit more respect shown to this game from SA Rugby’s side, and also overall around the world.
There is no place like home 🏡
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) December 2, 2024
The #Blitzboks are in action again this weekend in Cape Town - come and support our boys, tickets from R250 at Ticketmaster, click here: https://t.co/EhDJxGxGHJ 🎟#HSBCSVNS #PoweredByUnity pic.twitter.com/4JqOGFgbt9
“It’s not just in our land, but it’s across the world that sevens is seen as the ‘little brother’ of rugby. For me as a player, I feel that certain players are made for sevens, some players can play 15s really well – but it’s not the same game.”
It will be the first time in six seasons that the Blitzboks will enter the Cape Town Sevens without having won the Dubai title, following their 24-17 quarter-final defeat to New Zealand last weekend.
They also lost 17-15 in the fifth-place playoff against France, and will be going all out to claim the gold medal on home soil – having last won at the Cape Town Stadium in the 2015/16 season.
“We obviously didn’t want that result in Dubai, and wanted to go for gold. We didn’t use our opportunities, and the ones we got, we kicked it away,” Duarttee said.
“Speaking about ball possession, we didn’t keep our ball, so unfortunately, we allowed the other teams to get more chances than us.
The #Blitzboks are back in SA and gearing up for a big week 🙌#PoweredByUnity pic.twitter.com/PT9wQzInGo
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) December 2, 2024
“I hope this week that we can keep the ball and make sure that we put the points on the board, and not the other teams. We definitely need to show more patience, and instead of kicking the ball away after one or two phases, we need to push that aside and see how many phases we can put together.
“I believe that with the talent in this group, we will – after the third or fourth phase – walk over the tryline if we make the right decisions.
“Our defence is definitely not where it should be. We’ve put in a new defence structure now, and it’s the first tournament at the start of the season.
“But guys also can’t hide away: you have to make those tackles.”
Meanwhile, the Blitzboks will be without stalwart forward Ryan Oosthuizen this weekend, due to a concussion he sustained in Dubai.
Coach Philip Snyman has added four players to the training group – Mfundo Ndhlovu, Gino Cupido, Rowan Malgas and Zander Reynders – for Cape Town, with a final decision on Oosthuizen’s replacement being made tomorrow.
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