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South Africa capped off a wonderful string of performances to clinch the Las Vegas Sevens Cup final over their arch rivals New Zealand by a converted try.
Their performance was crisp, consistent and clinical in every facet of play.
The final was a scintillating affair that kept most of the fans of their feet all game, and what an encounter it was: complete with fierce tackling and counter-rucking, several try savings tackles and sublime ball skills all around.
The win put South Africa on top of the HSBC Sevens World Series standings, deservedly so, which begs the question do Neil Powell’s men have what it takes to win the series? I think they do.
Neil Powell is blessed with an abundance of talent, and he has three devastating playmakers in Cecil Afrika, Branco Du Preez and Justin Geduld.
Each one of those players could be a primary playmaker on any squad in the world, and they work selflessly together to create the kind of mis-matches that see them easily run 30-40 points on most teams.
They have so much speed with Seabelo Senatla, Afrika and the power up front in Horne, Dry and Snyman.
There scoring power so impressive and they are growing in confidence having played in the last three finals and barely lost the one.
While the offensive excellence is a marvel to behold, their defence is just as good, if not better.
The Bokke concede only 14 points all weekend, which is remarkable considering how easy it is to leak a try at this level.
They adjusted splendidly to the way the referees were calling the breakdown. The tacklers fought valiantly for the ball (albeit in a ruck situation).
Small lapses in concentration result in points more often than not.
It just hasn’t been the case with these Bokke.
They only conceded one seven pointer in the pool games to a plucky Kenya side that was trying to make up for their poor start.
They went on to blank Argentina in the quarters and Samoa in their Cup semi (both teams played very well all weekend) and give up one try in the final.
When you add the 14 points conceded this weekend to the 28 conceded in Port Elizabeth it shows how well Powell’s boys have gelled under his regime.
While fans will point out that Cama and Stowers were missing, two of NZ’s most potent weapons.
However I will say that Kaka and Naholo filled in for them very nicely, and while missing Cama drops the All Blacks creative edge quite a bit, I don’t believe that both of them would have been enough to overturn a splendid South African side.
More to come in New Zealand in two weeks, when they get a chance to prove themselves worthy. I’m sure Tietjens and everyone else will be watching them very carefully on day one.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.