Former Springbok Sevens skipper Jonathan Mokuena told Telecom Asia Sport that he hopes that the Blitzboks’ superb triumph at the Cape Town SVNS will see the Cape Town Stadium at capacity again when the next Sevens event in the Mother City is held.
The Blitzboks clinched their first home title in nine years after defeating France 26-14 in a tournament that featured a high-pressure do-or-die format, with teams playing only two pool games and no quarter-final round.
In their two pool games, the South Africans overcame Ireland and Argentina, and their brilliance continued as they swept aside Series surprises Spain in the semi-finals.
While it’s a normal occurrence for fans to roam around the stadium and often only take their seats when the home side and other ‘big’ teams run out, over the past couple of years, crowds have looked a bit sparse at times, even during those crunch matches.
When you consider that the Cape Town SVNS – or any Sevens event in any of the other iconic venues – is one of rugby’s biggest events, one can’t really put it down to rugby fatigue or fans being inundated with rugby tournaments and matches throughout the season.
Attendance has always been tops in Cape Town, even given the current brimming rugby schedule. Spotting a handful of empty seats in the same space when the Blitzboks played was always a tough task.
It’s something Mokuena puts down to the Blitzboks’ recent struggles. And there sure were no shortage of those.
The team went through a difficult transition since the departure of Neil Powell at the end of the 2022 season. Not only did Cape Town mark the Blitzboks’ first final of a SVNS tournament since 2020, but they also failed to gain automatic qualification to the 2024 Paris Olympics, finishing outside of the top four of the 2023/24 World Series.
They managed to sneak into the Paris showpiece through the backdoor, however, and impressively won bronze after going down to France in the semi-final.
Winning, winning, winning at all costs [is the most important thing]. It is the biggest currency as a coach, it's the biggest currency for a team, and it's the biggest currency for supporters as well...if you don't win, they find someone else [to support].
And it's not always easy, I mean, you see it with the Springboks as well. When the Springboks win, and they have been doing that for the last few years…that led to people becoming enthusiastic about the Springboks again. They are head over heels, because as South Africans we almost feel that our national teams belong to us. They give us hope and they connect with us. So, winning at all costs should bring supporters back and help us get that hype back again.
Mokuena, who represented the Blitzboks in 22 World Series tournaments, believes coach Philip Snyman’s team’s magnificence on home soil at the 26th annual series will see the Cape Town venue overflowing again in future.
I think the biggest challenge is always that South Africans are loyalists, and if their teams don't win, they show that in their attendance and also in the way they support you.
Unfortunately, our Blitzboks haven't really performed well over the last few years, especially when it's come to the home leg of the HSBC SVNS, but luckily last weekend they turned that around. Hopefully, in future, they will get more support.
The first South African leg was held in Stellenbosch in 1999 before Durban played host for the next two seasons. George was awarded the honours for nine seasons from 2002 until 2010, with Port Elizabeth staging the tournament from 2011 until 2014.
Cape Town has hosted the South African leg for 10 seasons, and while the idea of a change in venue is one that appeals to Mokuena, he also highlighted the issues that could arise with a change of venue, unless that move is to another coastal destination, Durban.
I've always loved the fact that we moved it every two or three years. However, in saying that, I am not sure how easy it is logistically to actually have and host a tournament like the HSBC SVNS. I can't see how, if it's not one of the three or four main metros, how it will work.
Even in the George days...if one flight was late or teams had to split their flights, some players go ahead, some come afterwards. So, logistically, it's an absolute mess, but I don't think we should throw away a venue like Durban. Durban would definitely be a great host, firstly because they have got the venue, and secondly, I think the weather would also play along nicely. So, I definitely think that is an option to look at.
