South Africa rugby sevens coach, Neil Powell wants his players to put their Dubai win behind them and focus on their defence of the Cape Town Sevens title this weekend.

Powell told Planet Rugby yesterday that they need another great effort as they are going to face stiff opposition from Dubai losing finalists Vodafone Fijian 7s team, England and New Zealand.

“We will have pressure this week, but the key for us will be to return to zero as soon as possible,” explained Powell.

“We need to start all over again. It will take another massive effort to defend our title in Cape Town.”

Similar sentiments was echoed by dashing winger Seabelo Senatla, who said it was important for the team to start the season well and for himself not to rest on his laurels after being named World Rugby Sevens Player of 2016.

“It was a big one for me last year, but I needed to start all over again. I am very happy what we did last weekend. These guys were awesome and continued to keep feeding me in space, hats off to all on my inside that are doing all the hard work.”

Powell said they needed to improve on their defence.

“It worked well and showed how effective our defence can be when it is functionally properly.

“We had a game plan for Fiji, they are dangerous with offloads, so we needed to be in their faces. Credit to the guys, they executed perfectly.

“It was a really great performance against Fiji,” he added.

“We played Fiji five times last year and won three times, so have an idea how to best contain them. You have to keep it structured.”

Meanwhile, the Naca Cawanibuka coached-side had their first training run in Cape Town last night. They were assisted by former head coach Ben Ryan who acted as their technical advisor.