Lategan emphasises 'crucial' nature of Nairobi stop

Liske Lategan has underlined the Springbok Women’s Sevens’ ambition to reclaim a place on the HSBC SVNS Series.

Ahead of the first stop in her team’s HSBC SVNS 2 campaign, the 27-year-old knows how important a success in Nairobi this weekend can be should the team want to qualify for the HSBC SVNS World Championship and a shot at a return to the top tier.

Kenya is the first stop in this quest, with further tournaments to come in Montevideo and São Paulo this March. A top four spot will send Cecil Afrika’s Springbok Women’s Sevens to the HSBC SVNS World Championship.

“It will be crucial to our road back to the top to lay a strong foundation here in Kenya,” Lategan said. “Every match will be one of survival for us and we will treat it as such.

“Instead, all six teams will play each other, not only this weekend, but also in the two remaining legs, to be played in Uruguay and Brazil next month.

“The harsh reality of being knocked out in any match will not be there, but that does not mean we can slip up in any match.

“Things like points difference and bonus points will be crucial in the final log positions which will determine who goes to the HSBC SVNS World Championship tournaments.”

Over the weekend South Africa will play Spain, Brazil, Kenya, China and Argentina in the round robin competition. The Argentines are familiar foes after the two teams faced off in the HSBC SVNS 3 final in January, while Kenya were opponents in the Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens final last November.

“It will be important to use the opportunities we create against them, as they do not offer you many of those,” she said.

“Our last match against Argentina was quite close when we played them in the SVNS 3 final in Dubai, but we did not play as well in that match as earlier in the tournament.

“I think the knowledge that we had already qualified for SVNS 2 did take some edge off our performance. We will have a strategy for each game, but some fundamentals will remain for the whole weekend.”