'No excuses' for Blitzboks in Hamilton - coach Ngcobo

Springbok Sevens coach Sandile Ngcobo has set his team three goals for this weekend's New Zealand Sevens in Hamilton.

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Ngcobo, who took over as head coach of the Blitzboks after last year's Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa, was satisfied with their training during the week.

At the beginning of the 2022/23 season, the Blitzboks lost 19-12 to Argentina in the fifth-place semi-final in Hong Kong. They won the Cup title in Dubai, beating Ireland 21-5 in the final, before losing an extra-time thriller 10-7 to Samoa in the semi-finals in Cape Town.

Regarding the three goals for this weekend, Ngcobo explained: "We are looking at consistency in performance, finishing our opportunities and then for the guys who are coming in, to get in tune with our plan and execute with the rest of the team as quickly as possible."

Attaining these goals will ensure they stay on the path to their long-term goal for the season - to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

"It's going to be very important to finish our opportunities this weekend. Looking back at Hong Kong and Cape Town, we saw that we start things, but then we don't finish them and it's important to get consistency in performance in that regard, which again will be crucial for the team's long-term goal.

"I feel we did a lot of good work, with a lot of attention to detail, at training this week, the players have adapted to the new time zone and got back into the team environment after the Christmas break."

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As a player, Ngcobo made his Springbok Sevens debut in New Zealand in 2016, but back then the tournament was held in Wellington. The South Africans came agonisingly close