This weekend, Paul Delport, coach of the Springbok Women’s Sevens squad, believes the format of the Rugby World Cup Sevens may favor smaller teams.
The event, which begins on Friday morning at Cape Town Stadium, will feature a straight knockout format.
Teams will need to win every single game in order to advance to the Cup finals. While this will challenge all teams to be at their best from the very beginning, it also means that any club, regardless of size, might fall out of contention at any point.
And in a game like Sevens, a single error may be costly.
“It’s enormous” (playing in Cape Town). We had been discussing it for the past week. “Everyone aspires to host a World Cup, so we are quite ecstatic,” Delport added.
“I believe this format somewhat levels the playing field. It offers the underdogs a slight advantage. France (South Africa’s first opponent) is a terrific team; we’ve done our research on them; now it’s up to us to perform.”
Additionally, Delport indicated that he does not believe their status as underdogs to be advantageous.
However, the fact that other competing teams do not know what the hosts have up their sleeves could give them an advantage.
I don’t believe that being the underdog is a significant advantage; it’s just that our squad has been inconsistent this season. Therefore, I believe that anyone conducting an analysis on us will not have a clear picture of us and our arsenal, so that would be rather intriguing,” he remarked.
“I play for my family back home, for my mother, my sisters, and my nieces, and for the people…”
This is authentic and #ItsPersonal #RWC7s picture: https://twitter.com/KBSLyTRbHM
— Springbok Women (@WomenBoks) September 7, 2022
“We’ve adjusted our strategy to the capabilities of our players and the way they play, so I’m excited for them to express themselves.
“The group has come together magnificently. This year’s objective was likely to expose as many talented players as possible to international competition. With the exception of one or two guys, this is our best team.
If you are missing only one or two guys, I believe you are in an excellent position to win this tournament.
Delport went on to say that giving every player a run this season was a major accomplishment, as it helped the players prepare for the World Cup.
“I was able to select the players I desired for the Africa Cup and the event in Toulouse, and the intention was always to send a more developed side to the Commonwealth Games and the Challenger Series.
It worked out fairly well that everyone had an opportunity to play, and this is without question our strongest team.
“I appreciate dealing with this group of women because they are competitive and tenacious. They desire victory, but that is not our end goal; rather, we wish to concentrate on our procedures.
I believe that if we execute well, we have a good chance of success.
@WynonaLouw