Blitzbokke take Bronze at Olympics

It was an evening of mixed emotions for South African rugby fans, as the nation hedged their bets on the Springbok Sevens going for a gold medal.

Facing Great Britain in the semi-final, the Blitzbokke were guaranteed a shot at a podium finish having made the last four.

Despite captain Kyle Brown’s early first half try, the Blitzbokke couldn’t convert a number of try scoring chances and ended up losing 7-5 in a tense semi-final.

That set up a date with Japan in the Bronze medal decider – which the Blitzbokke won by a land slide. The South Africans ran in eight tries to win 54-14 and claim the bronze medal.

With expectations so high, Brown admitted that losing the semi-final had been a bitter pill to swallow. But claiming the bronze medal easily made amends.

“It’s incredibly special. We were incredibly heartbroken after that semi-final and it took a lot for us to bounce back. There were some really heavy heads in that change room because it was such a tough way to go down to Great Britain,” Brown said.

“A 7-5 loss – that is Sevens rugby. You are going to get that all the time and that is exactly why people come out here and sit on the edge of their seats.

“I’m really impressed by the way the guys bounced back after that. They lifted themselves and there was a jubilant atmosphere in the change room before our last game and that was what we needed.”

Tapping into their true potential, the Blitzbokke put on a festival of running rugby as they booked their spot on the podium, which was a real highlight for the skipper.

“We needed to unchain ourselves from what happened in that semi-final and really express ourselves. We were playing from our try-line, we were doing things at a hundred miles an hour and really enjoying ourselves on the field,” Brown said.

The South African skipper also tipped his hat to Japan for their form at the tournament. The 2020 Olympic hosts were unstoppable in the pool stages and managed shock defeats over New Zealand and Kenya.

“I’ve been blown away by Japan’s performances this week. They’ve been incredible, the way they’ve played rugby is precision Sevens rugby. We may have played a bit better today, but they are a quality team to have made it to 3rd/4th playoffs, considering the quality of teams we have here,” Brown said.

Fiji ended up taking the Gold medal after beating Great Britain 43-7 in the final.

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