Memory of sister drives Dewald Human as Blitzboks go for six-in-a-row at Dubai Sevens

As Dewald Human breezes through the airy lobby of the team hotel in Festival City, he appears not to have a care in the world.

No matter that he and his teammates are sleep deprived, and have yet to get into their rooms after their overnight flight from Cape Town.

Nor the fact they are carrying the burden of attempting to keep up the most extraordinary winning record in the long history of the Dubai Sevens.

The 29-year-old playmaker carries the sunny disposition of someone who is happy with where they are in life. After all, South African rugby players love Dubai.

Even though the Blitzboks ended seventh on the world sevens series last season, they started their season as they always do: by winning the Dubai title.

They have done exactly that every time the tournament has been played since 2019. That amounts to five in a row. Not even the all-conquering New Zealand side of the early years of the world series managed dominance like that.

And yet last year’s tournament was bittersweet. Human ended the closely fought final against Argentina with tears streaming down his face. Arriving in the city earlier this week ahead of their title defence, he said those same feelings came flooding back.

“I was thinking about when we came over, thinking about what happened last year and it was emotional again,” Human said ahead of the 2024 tournament.

“It was the same time last year that my sister passed away. It was my motivation last year.

“It is still lekker [good] to come to Dubai. There is a lot of pressure on us and people are asking if we are going to break the record going for six [in a row]. We just want to focus on our process this week, and start off well.”

Human dedicated last year’s Dubai win to his sister, Marelize, who had died in the lead up to the tournament. He said he would always be reminded of her every time he put on his green Blitzboks shirt, with “Human” written between the shoulders.

“It is still the same motivation,” he said. “Every time I put that jersey on, my surname is on the back. It reminds me of her and the legacy I want to put back.

“She was a big fan of the Blitzboks as well. I want to represent her in the national colours, and I am happy to be back representing my country. It is going to be a big part of who I am this weekend. I want to serve the team.”

Living near South Africa’s sevens training base in Cape Town means Human has not been able to see his sister’s young family as often as he would like.

They live around six hours away, but he stays in contact with her three young sons as best he can. And, he says, he wants to make them happy by performing on the field.

“That is quite a challenge,” he said. “Within our team we talk about making sacrifices and that is one of the sacrifices I have to make to play this wonderful game.

“I know why I am doing this. This is my dream. After Cape Town [Sevens, next week] I will get to see them for two weeks, then will have to be back into camp again.

“They understand. The middle one is a big fan of me, and I always get messages saying, ‘Boeta [elder brother], you must play well.’ They still don’t understand what is happening fully.

“This year has been about trying to build up their understanding and explain what the future holds, and how they are going to miss their mum. I miss them a lot.”

For now, all his focus is on more success at Dubai Sevens. South Africa’s record in the city is remarkable. Their haul of 11 titles since the advent of the world series in Dubai is nearly double the next best – that of New Zealand, who have won six times.

“When you come to Dubai, everyone is fresh,” said Human, whose side start their title defence against Australia on Pitch 1 at 10.50am on Saturday.

“Every side is putting their best team out on the circuit. For us, we are not thinking about the outcome, instead it is about following the process this week.

“Starting from Monday, we want to try to be perfect in everything we do so that by the weekend we are hitting form. It is not about preparing for the final, it is about preparing for the first game.

“This weekend for us, that mean Australia. We focus on Australia and try to take care of that, and the dynamic of our team is very good.

“We each understand what our role is in the bigger plan. If you understand that, we can move forward. We have been lucky that, for five years, we have been successful.

“Also, there is massive crowd in Dubai. We feel the love of the South Africans coming over and supporting us.

“We like being in Dubai, we know what to expect and we can focus on the process and not the outcome.”