Schoeman pleased as SARU Sevens Academy clinch Roma Sevens title
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Loading...SARU Sevens Academy coach Marius Schoeman expressed his satisfaction with the performance of his South African outfit at the Roma Sevens this past weekend after the team secured a third consecutive title in as many years in the Italian capital.
The silverware aside, it was the performances of a number of new recruits that had the former Blitzbok smiling.
“It was a good display by the guys and I am very happy with the overall result,” said Schoeman.
“We faced some tough opponents out there and this was the ideal environment to test the mettle of a number of new players in the group. I knew we had the luxury of a couple of older heads in the team, so it was always going to be the performance of the younger guys that determined our success.”
The South Africans stormed through the pool stages with wins over Fiamme Oro (33-5), Switzerland (50-0) and Clandestinos (40-0) to secure a Cup quarterfinal berth.
On Saturday they outclassed an invitational team consisting of New Zealand and Fijian players in the quarterfinal (33-7), before beating the Barcelona Barbarians in the semifinal. That earned them a final berth against the Froggies, a French Invitational team, and they secured the title with a 41-7 win.
Incidentally, former Blitzbok Stefan Basson, was on the bench for the final, as Sandile Ngcobo had to withdraw due to a groin strain.
Exiting outside back Lungelo Gosa was named Player of the Tournament.
The team will participate in the Geneva Sevens this weekend (19/20 June) before returning to South Africa.
“Our 12th team member, Tyler Fisher, will only join us today for the Geneva Sevens, as he had to write exams in South Africa first, so we will have our full complement of players.
“If we stick to what worked for us in Rome and play according to our structures, we should give a good account of ourselves in Switzerland as well,” Schoeman said.
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