Coach Philip Snyman says the Blitzboks were their own worst enemies in going down 26-19 to Australia in the SVNS World Championship final in Valladolid.
Australia fought back from 14-0 down to lead 26-14, before withstanding a late Blitzboks onslaught.
“Australia were deserved winners tonight,” said Snyman. “They used their opportunities better in the final and deserved the win, they played very good rugby all tournament long.”
A controversial forward-pass call from the TMO denied South Africa a score which could have levelled the match and forced extra-time.
But Snyman said: “Sevens is brutal and so are the margins sometimes. We also had other opportunities, which we did not use, that one pass was not the reason we did not win.”
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The Blitzboks played some of their best rugby on Sunday, but Snyman was not happy with the team’s performances over the opening two days.
“Yes, we did very well at stages [on Sunday], but we will have to revisit those areas where we did not do as well as we should have,” he said. “Earlier in the tournament we were not at our best and will have a look at that.
“We still made it to the final, though, as tough as it is to get to that stage of the competition, so from that perspective, I am pleased.
“You are supposed to set the standard on day one and pick up the momentum from there, but we did not quite do that and in fact struggled on the first two days.”
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Snyman said the Blitzboks were not clinical enough on attack and didn’t defend well.
“We need to look better after our ball. In the final, we missed too many tackles and that got them back into the game.
“Playing in six consecutive finals is great, but this one was not our best, so we need to come back stronger.”
South Africa lead the World Championship standings by four points from Argentina with the final round in Bordeaux next weekend. They secured the SVNS series crown earlier in the season.
In Bordeaux, the Blitzboks are in a Pool A with Fiji, Kenya and Great Britain. Australia, Spain, USA and Uruguay are in Pool B, while Pool C consists of Argentina, New Zealand, France and Germany.
SVNS World Championship standings
1. South Africa 38
2. Argentina 34
3. Australia 30
4. Fiji 26
5. Spain 26
6. New Zealand 26
7. France 14
8. Kenya 14
Photo: Juan Barbosa/Reuters
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