No time for celebrations, says South Africa coach

Dubai - The Blitzboks were dominant as they outthought and outgunned Fiji 26-14 in the Cup final

The South Africans had just bested Olympic champions Fiji to land the spoils in the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens at The Sevens Stadium on Saturday night but their coach Johannes Daniel Powell said that there won't be time for celebrations as they head to Cape Town for the second round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
The Blitzboks were dominant as they outthought and outgunned Fiji 26-14 in the Cup final but Powell said that they needed to put it onto the backburner and focus on next weekend in their own backyard.
"I am very happy with the performance. This gives us confidence, expectation and pressure (for Cape Town)," Powell said after the squad made their way to the changing rooms after receiving their gold medals. "It is going to be key to us to get this out of our system, close the door and then start building again when we get home on Monday," added the 38-year-old.
The second round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series will take place in Cape Town, South Africa on December 10 and 11.
The Blitzboks are placed in Pool A along with Australia, USA and Russia, While Pool B features Fiji, France, Kenya and Japan. England, New Zealand, Argentina and Canada are in Pool C, and Wales, Scotland, Samoa and Uganda make up Pool.
Meanwhile, Fiji's interim coach Naca Cawanibuka said doffed his hat to the South Africans and said that they will come back stronger next week.
"We had high hopes about actually winning it, but congratulations to a very good South Africa team. Our boys worked hard, but there were a few moments where we did not stick to our guns," said Cawanibuka, who replaced Ben Ryan after the Olympics. Gareth Baber is set to take over from Cawanibuka in January.
"South Africa capitalised and hats off to them. Hopefully, we will come back stronger next week," added Cawanibuka.
james@khaleejtimes.com