South Africa beat Wales to win Plate, but rue loss of World Series lead
Blitzbokke take consolation in their Plate final victory over the Welsh, but are disappointed at being unable to make a strong run in the Cup and for conceding their lead over New Zealand in the HSBC Sevens World Series.
It was another case of Groundhog Day for South Africa at the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, despite the fact they won some silverware last night. As usual, it wasn't the kind they were looking for.
The Blitzbokke arrived in Hong Kong on top of the HSBC Sevens World Series standings and making confident noises about winning in Hong Kong for the first time ever. In the end, it was the same old story - an early exit from the Cup competition and a prize they didn't want.
Their 19-14 win over Wales in the Plate final would have satisfied the appetite of most teams, but for South Africa it was just another missed opportunity to land the big one.
A 14-7 Cup quarter-final loss to England earlier in the day consigned them to the Plate competition, and although they won, South Africa coach Neil Powell knew it wasn't the trophy they'd been aiming for.
The margin between success and failure at this level is so small. The guys showed a lot of heart to lift themselves and beat a tough Welsh team
"We wanted to get at least to the Cup semi-final to keep our consistency in the series going, but unfortunately we couldn't do that. The margin between success and failure at this level is so small," Powell said.