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Blitzboks out to prove doubters wrong

Cape Town - The Blitzboks strive for - and believe - that consistency is the key to success in the World Rugby Sevens Series and helped them win the 2016/17 series.

This weekend at the Singapore Sevens they will be looking for more of the same, but also know they have the small matter of the Commonwealth Games to put behind them.

"We often said one game will not define us or what we stand for as a Springbok Sevens team, yet that second half performance against England in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast was one that did show some shortcomings in our attitude," said the Springbok Sevens stand-in captain, Kyle Brown.

"We were in fact defined by that one game as it also knocked us off the podium and we left Australia without a medal, disappointing many, including ourselves."

Brown is wearing the armband this weekend in place of Philip Snyman, who has been rested following a heavy workload during the series.

The Blitzboks have held the World Rugby Sevens Series lead since the opening tournament in Dubai, but in the last couple of tournaments conceded points to Fiji, who are now only three points behind in second place.

That is not the concern or focus for the squad though, Brown noted.

"There can be no doubt that some of the new guys in the squad brought some energy and excitement and reminded some of the more established players what if felt like. It impacted on all of us,” said Brown, now South Africa's second most experienced player ever.

"Good performances in Hong Kong were rewarded and those guys can again show what they are capable of. There is little sense in trying to shackle their energy and the way they play as that was what delivered them a medal in Hong Kong, so the senior heads in the team will provide the composure and sense of structure where needed. It was great for all of us to see one group in our system do so well and now we want to combine with them to deliver a good result in Singapore.”

South Africa open their campaign against Samoa on Saturday before facing Canada and Argentina.

The Springbok Sevens team for the Singapore Sevens (with tournament caps and points):

1. Heino Bezuidenhout (1 tournament, 6 matches, 5 points, 1 try)

2. Ryan Oosthuizen (7 tournaments, 27 matches, 30 points, 6 tries)

3. Kyle Brown (captain; 64 tournaments, 324 matches, 420 points, 84 tries)

4. Zain Davids (10 tournaments, 42 matches, 35 points, 7 tries)

5. Dylan Sage (21 tournaments, 116 matches, 140 points, 28 tries)

6. Rosko Specman (25 tournaments, 137 matches, 338 points, 62 tries, 14 conversions)

7. Selvyn Davids (4 tournaments, 19 matches, 76 points, 10 tries, 12 conversions)

8. Cecil Afrika (59 tournaments, 309 matches, 1395 points, 170 tries)

9. Werner Kok (34 tournaments, 166 matches, 370 points, 74 tries)

10. Stedman Gans (9 tournaments, 36 matches, 45 points, 9 tries)

11. Muller du Plessis (3 tournaments, 14 matches, 40 points, 8 tries)

12. Siviwe Soyizwapi (15 tournaments, 71 matches, 235 points, 47 tries)

13. James Murphy * (1 tournament, 6 matches, 0 points)

*Travelling reserve

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