Olympic sevens: GB need flying start, says Eddie Jones
Thursday 11 August 2016 17:12, UK
England head coach Eddie Jones believes a good start will be key for Great Britain if they are to beat South Africa in the Olympic sevens semi-finals.
Great Britain booked their place in the last four with a dramatic 5-0 sudden death victory over Argentina.
The game had ended scoreless in normal time, but Dan Bibby produced a moment of magic in the first period of sudden death against the Pumas to set up a mouth-watering clash with the Blitzbokke.
"It's going be a tough game, South Africa probably look like the form team of the competition," Jones told Sky Sports News HQ.
"But the Great Britain side have done well, they've been very impressive staying in their games, winning closely against Argentina and obviously beating New Zealand so they will go in there with a lot of confidence - if they start the game well, who knows.
"You've got to start sevens well, like in cricket when you win the toss you've got to score quick runs early - in sevens you've got to kick-off, win the ball or win it back and put points on the board and make the other team chase."
Jones, who has recently named his provisional 45-man elite player squad for England's November Tests against South Africa, Fiji, Argentina and Australia, says success for Great Britain will be a huge boost for the sport in the UK.
"It does inspire young kids to play the sport if they see Dan Norton scoring a try in potentially the Olympic final," added Jones.
"It encourages a young kid who is quick to want to play the game of sevens and in that way it has been really positive."
In the 2015 World Cup, Jones masterminded the shock of the tournament when he coached Japan to a 34-32 win over South Africa. Fast forward to 2016 and Japan have caused shock-waves in the seven-man game when they beat New Zealand in the pool stages and then France in the quarter-finals to earn a place in the semi-finals against favourites Fiji
"I think it's fantastic for Japan to do well in the sevens," said Jones.
"Back in Japan they will be thinking they've beaten the All Blacks and will give a huge boost to rugby leading into the World Cup in 2019."
