Team South Africa picked up two Olympic medals in Rio on Thursday‚ an emotional silver in rowing and then a convincing bronze for the BlitzBoks.
The sevens rugby team trounced giant-killing Japan 54-14 in the playoff for third place‚ having earlier lost narrowly to Great Britain 5-7 in the semifinals.
The South Africans were gutted after that‚ and coach Neil Powell said straight after that: “The guys have got 30 minutes to feel sorry for themselves and then pick themselves up.”
And that’s exactly what they did‚ returning with fire in their hearts to secure SA’s fourth medal of the Games.
Fiji thrashed Britain 43-7 in the gold decider to claim their nation’s first-ever Olympic medal.
That was more than double their 20-5 winning margin over Japan‚ who had beaten New Zealand‚ Kenya and France en route to the semifinals.
They had an uncanny ability to score tries‚ but every time they crossed the line‚ SA were quick to hit back and keep stretching the margin until they were safely out of reach in the second half.
In the end the BlitzBoks‚ the reigning Commonwealth Games champions‚ scored eight tries to Japan’s two‚ with Rosko Spekman dotting down on three occasions and Cecil Afrika going over twice.
“We were deeply disappointed in the manner that we played‚” said Afrika. “But a bronze medal is a fantastic finish for us.”
Tim Agaba‚ who came on as a substitute‚ said their medal performance came one match too late.
“It would have been nice if we played like that in the semi. Sevens is all about the bounce of the ball and it didn’t bounce our way in the semi.
“We went into this game with very calm heads.
“Every team comes into this tournament wanting to win. No one comes in hoping for a bronze or a silver.”
Lomano Lemeki of Japan praised the BlitzBoks for the pressure they applied.
“The intensity and the way that South Africa played‚ right from the very first kick-off‚ had us on the back heel the whole time.
“We’re not the biggest or the fastest team‚ but we worked hard for one another and we managed to get fourth.
“It’s not often that Japan ranks higher than Australia and New Zealand in rugby.”
In the rowing‚ cancer-survivor Lawrence Brittain and veteran Shaun Keeling stormed through from fourth place over the final 500m to end second in the men’s heavyweight pair.
The duo had ended fourth by 0.2sec in their last World Cup meet in Lucerne in May‚ and they didn’t want a repeat of that.
“At the 500 I said Shaun‚ point-two‚ never again’‚” said Brittain. “Then suddenly we were both on the money and powering through and then finding ourselves in second.
“Then we had that belief. It’s hard when you’re in fourth and fighting and you’re not sure and it’s rough.
“And then suddenly the body starts to feel good again and the legs are there and you’re starting to move on other crews and you just build on that‚ build on that.”
Added Keeling: “We were on the back foot in the first kay (1000m) and then we had to change it‚ grab it and move to the front foot and then we built on that. We just had the momentum going‚ going‚ going.
“When we were in that place they were not going to take it from us‚ they’re not going to take the medal back.”
A good day for Team SA at Olympics with medals in rugby and and rowing
Team South Africa picked up two Olympic medals in Rio on Thursday‚ an emotional silver in rowing and then a convincing bronze for the BlitzBoks.
The sevens rugby team trounced giant-killing Japan 54-14 in the playoff for third place‚ having earlier lost narrowly to Great Britain 5-7 in the semifinals.
The South Africans were gutted after that‚ and coach Neil Powell said straight after that: “The guys have got 30 minutes to feel sorry for themselves and then pick themselves up.”
And that’s exactly what they did‚ returning with fire in their hearts to secure SA’s fourth medal of the Games.
Fiji thrashed Britain 43-7 in the gold decider to claim their nation’s first-ever Olympic medal.
That was more than double their 20-5 winning margin over Japan‚ who had beaten New Zealand‚ Kenya and France en route to the semifinals.
They had an uncanny ability to score tries‚ but every time they crossed the line‚ SA were quick to hit back and keep stretching the margin until they were safely out of reach in the second half.
In the end the BlitzBoks‚ the reigning Commonwealth Games champions‚ scored eight tries to Japan’s two‚ with Rosko Spekman dotting down on three occasions and Cecil Afrika going over twice.
“We were deeply disappointed in the manner that we played‚” said Afrika. “But a bronze medal is a fantastic finish for us.”
Tim Agaba‚ who came on as a substitute‚ said their medal performance came one match too late.
“It would have been nice if we played like that in the semi. Sevens is all about the bounce of the ball and it didn’t bounce our way in the semi.
“We went into this game with very calm heads.
“Every team comes into this tournament wanting to win. No one comes in hoping for a bronze or a silver.”
Lomano Lemeki of Japan praised the BlitzBoks for the pressure they applied.
“The intensity and the way that South Africa played‚ right from the very first kick-off‚ had us on the back heel the whole time.
“We’re not the biggest or the fastest team‚ but we worked hard for one another and we managed to get fourth.
“It’s not often that Japan ranks higher than Australia and New Zealand in rugby.”
In the rowing‚ cancer-survivor Lawrence Brittain and veteran Shaun Keeling stormed through from fourth place over the final 500m to end second in the men’s heavyweight pair.
The duo had ended fourth by 0.2sec in their last World Cup meet in Lucerne in May‚ and they didn’t want a repeat of that.
“At the 500 I said Shaun‚ point-two‚ never again’‚” said Brittain. “Then suddenly we were both on the money and powering through and then finding ourselves in second.
“Then we had that belief. It’s hard when you’re in fourth and fighting and you’re not sure and it’s rough.
“And then suddenly the body starts to feel good again and the legs are there and you’re starting to move on other crews and you just build on that‚ build on that.”
Added Keeling: “We were on the back foot in the first kay (1000m) and then we had to change it‚ grab it and move to the front foot and then we built on that. We just had the momentum going‚ going‚ going.
“When we were in that place they were not going to take it from us‚ they’re not going to take the medal back.”
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