Dubai: South Africa produced a dominant display at their favorite hunting ground to clinch their seventh Emirates Dubai 7 men’s title in nine years, but the Springboks believe they are not yet at their best.
“There is room for improvement and we have not reached our true potential. We have to soak up this win and be more clinical in our wins in the future,” Sandile coach Caleb Ngcobo said, despite the euphoria among many South African fans still cheering for the victorious team.
Buoyed by their impressive win over the All Blacks in the semi-finals, the South Africans went straight ahead from the start of the final against Ireland and went on to extend their lead to 21-0 while keeping a clean sheet until end of the first part.
The Australian women’s rugby team celebrates after winning the final of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai.
Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/ Gulf News
The South African defense was menacing while the attack looked dangerous, and this made it difficult for Ireland to equalize until well after half time in the second half, but by then the game was over.
“Great effort in defense and great character shown by the players,” Caleb Ngcobo said after recording his first win as manager. “I’ve never lost in Dubai as I used to be a Samurai team player.”
South Africa’s victory in the Olympic qualification year must be a huge boost to their aspirations. Explaining the mentality that gave the Springboks their seventh crown, “We started slowly and gained momentum with each match. After a tough semi-final against New Zealand, it’s very easy to take confidence from this match. We thought if we could get through the semi-final, the final would take care of everything,” said James Murphy, the South African pacer, who was also unconvinced with his team’s performance.
“It’s not a perfect game, but it’s a big boost for the boys who have worked hard after a couple of disappointing results. I’m super proud of the guys and super proud to be a part of the system. It’s more about belief. One of the reasons why Dubai is special is the way they look after us, beyond the next mile. And the fans make us feel closer to a home tournament,” added the prop.
It was a huge disappointment for the many Irish fans who were hoping their team would end South Africa’s dominance in the Dubai Rugby Sevens and Exiles field.
Ireland skipper Harry McNulty felt they could not have done anything against this perfect South African side who confidently negotiated anything thrown at them.
“It’s one of those games where South Africa was perfect, they played really well without any mistakes. It’s the first final in Dubai for us, which is a big achievement in a big tournament. These are incredible results and we have to do it again and again,” said the skipper, who knows the region well after being born in Bahrain and learning its tricks of the trade in the kingdom.
‘The support is fantastic. It’s hard not to come back with a win, but to make the final and sing the national anthem in front of such a big fan base was a privilege,” added McNulty with his sights set on Olympic qualification. “We’re aiming for a final among the first four. So we want to be consistent throughout the year.”
It’s not the All Blacks’ day as not only did they miss out on the men’s crown, but after losing the semi-finals 26-19 to South Africa, the Black Ferns were booed by a certain Australian team, who didn’t gave nothing away in the final, winning 26-19.
The first half ended with Australia holding a slender 14-12 lead, but they stepped up the pace with Maddison Levi scoring his 11th try this week to extend the lead to 19-12 and almost settled the issue with another try at the end of the second half to go 26-12. The brilliant Australian defense held their own until the final minutes when the Black Ferns scored to narrow the margin of victory.
The All Blacks men’s team beat the United States to win the third-place play-off 31-12, while the USA women had the consolation of beating France to take the bronze 21-19.
Results:
Final: South Africa beat Ireland 21-5
Third-place play-off: New Zealand beat the United States 31-12
Semi-finals:
Ireland beat the United States 12-7
South Africa beat New Zealand 26-19
Final: Australia beat New Zealand 26-19
Third place play-off:
Semi-finals:
Australia beat France 38-5
New Zealand beat the USA 35-0.