- Blitzboks captain Siviwe Soyizwapi wants to make Neil Powell's final few months with the Springbok Sevens memorable.
- In September, Powell will leave the Blitzboks following the Sevens Rugby World Cup to take on a new job as the Sharks Director of Rugby.
- Soyizwapi says that his side will do their best to aim for glory at July's Commonwealth Games, the World Rugby Sevens season finale and the Sevens World Cup.
Blitzboks captain Siviwe Soyizwapi says that the Springboks Sevens will do everything in their power to give coach Neil Powell the perfect send-off.
Powell will leave the Blitzboks after 15 years in the Sevens circuit as a player and coach as he takes on the role of Director of Rugby at the Sharks.
Powell's tenure will end after the Sevens World Cup in September and Soyizwapi is not looking forward to the looming farewell.
Soyizwapi is eager to give Powell the perfect send-off with the upcoming Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the Sevens Rugby World Cup in Cape Town.
"Coach Neil has been part of the system for a really long time and he has formed an integral part of the success for this team," Soyizwapi told Sport24 at an Under Armour event at Green Point Stadium last week.
"His experience and contribution to the team is second to none.
"We're really going to miss him and we know the time is running out and it's almost time for him to say his goodbyes.
"We really want to turn things around, looking at the past two tournaments, and give him a couple of performances and a good send-off when he leaves us."
The Blitzboks currently lead the 2021/22 World Rugby Sevens Series standings by 124 points - two points ahead of Australia.
One tournament remains this season, with the Los Angeles Sevens set to take place only from 27-28 August at Dignity Health Sports Park.
"It's been a long season, and we started off really well. It was always going to be tough to keep that consistency," said Soyizwapi.
"I think we just deviated from our focus as a group and all the effort and implementation of the processes and game plan.
"It's all about shifting back and moving our focus to what works for us. And I think you could see with our performances in London that there's a shift in focus. We'll take a lot of confidence from that and take it into LA."
For now, the Blitzboks will shift their focus to the Birmingham Commonwealth Games set from 28 July to 8 August.
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast, the Blitzboks, then led by Kyle Brown, missed out on a medal as they lost to England in the bronze playoff.
Soyizwapi, who was part of the 2018 team as a travelling reserve, has gone through several ups and downs with the Springbok Sevens.
"It's good to have a bit of downtime and have a gap between tournaments. We'll use the time to recover and use the space to prepare for the Commonwealth Games," said Soyizwapi.
The Blitzboks will start training for the Birmingham Games from 13 June as they look to put up a better performance after their Tokyo Olympics disappointment.
"The way we look at this whole year and this whole season, everything is part of one year. We do separate the three big tournaments, but we'd like to look at it as one season and take it one game at a time.
"That's always worked for us and we'll take the Commonwealth Games.
"We're just hoping to take the confidence from London and build from that. If we medal in Birmingham, it'll of cause be great."
Following the Commonwealth Games, the Blitzboks then prepare for the World Rugby Sevens finale in LA.
And then, South Africa prepares to host the Sevens Rugby World Cup set from 9-11 September at Cape Town Stadium.
"It's going to be a bit hectic. Next season already starts in November in Hong Kong. It's a busy year and now, we really appreciate the time we get off," said Soyizwapi.
"But it's really exciting to compete. I mean, we were locked up in Covid for a really long time and to have this opportunity and to actually have game time, it's really great to see."