Small tweaks for Blitzboks as they go for a double

After their win in Dubai last weekend, the Blitzboks will be looking to add the Cape Town Sevens title as the tournament gets under way on Friday. 

However, home pressure adds a different dimension, with the Blitzboks not having won in South Africa since 2015.  

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While self-belief from the Dubai win may have received a boost, head coach Sandile Ngcobo believes the reset button is equally important. 

Ngcobo secured a first tournament win in only his second outing in his new role following the departure of Neil Powell, but he believes a fresh approach is needed for the weekend.  

"The workload needs to be adjusted to make sure players are fresh, and because we have longer match days and the time between matches differs, meaning the mental aspect is also a bit different," said Ngcobo. 

"We're playing Canada on day one who are a young team full of energy. They always rock up against us. I think we last played them at the Commonwealth Games, and it was a tough game. That's exactly the type of game we want. We need our guys to work hard and get into the tournament." 

The match starts at 20:03, which means the Blitzboks will have a slow start to the day. 

"We'll start with a few activations early in the day to make sure the bodies are awake and then go into the traditional jersey presentation where we just remind ourselves what the jersey and badge means to the system. Once that is done, we'll start focusing on the game itself. Then Canada will be on our mind," said Ngcobo. 

The usual distractions that come with a home tournament will again be a factor, but the coach says that is something the squad wants to manage better. 

"As a group, we want to stay focused on rugby