Brown bemoans SA's mental block
South Africa may have hung on to their first place on the Sevens World Series table, but their mental aptitude came under scrutiny after their semifinal exit in Wellington on Saturday.
The BlitzBokke remained top of the World Series standings after finishing third in the Wellington tournament, won by hosts in New Zealand – who closed the gap on their arch rivals to just seven points.
South Africa head the log with 76 points halfway through the World Series, seven points clear of New Zealand, who moved into second place.
The top four sides on the log will gain automatic qualification into the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Springbok captain Kyle Brown admitted that his team were mentally slow to adapt to the pressures of the New Zealand tournament.
He was pleased though that the side responded well under pressure on the second day of play.
"We had to maximise the points from this tournament after our slow start," Brown said.
"I am pleased in the way we finished against Scotland, that was 14 minutes of good sevens rugby we played. There is still a lot to work on though if we want to improve in the Las Vegas leg [next week]," Brown added.
"We came back well. We were in a dark hole after our poor showing on day one and the guys responded very well today.
"We know we are a capable team, the actual battle is the one in our heads. It is just a matter of getting our minds right and play the type of rugby that we know we can."
Stalwart Frankie Horne, who extended his world record to 63 consecutive tournaments, also looked at the positive side of things.
"Make no mistake, we were shocked on day one, but we gradually improved and played much better today. Our concentration lapsed in the final minutes against New Zealand and we paid the price," Horne said.
"We are still pretty pleased with third place overall. It was pleasing to see the way the younger players responded when given a chance against Scotland. We now have some nice momentum going into Las Vegas."
* Meanwhile the draw for the next tournament, in Las Vegas next weekend, was also made.
In Pool B, South Africa are joined by the hosts, United States, Portugal and Japan.
New Zealand head Pool A and face Fiji, Wales and Samoa.
England will meet Kenya, Argentina and Canada in Pool C and Brazil will play Scotland, Australia and France in Pool D.
