SA Rugby
Former Springbok Sevens captain Phillip Snyman has been rewarded with a permanent appointment as head coach of the Blitzboks after guiding them to a bronze medal at the Paris Olympic Games.
He was in a caretaker role since March following a string of poor results in the HSBC SVNS series, but under his guidance the team won the HSBC Sevens Repechage, earning the last spot at the Olympic Games.
SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer said Snyman’s new role will take him to the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 and formed part of the governing body’s current high-performance restructuring process.
“The way Philip turned around the fortunes of the Blitzboks in a short time was remarkable and speaks volumes of his abilities as a coach.
“Their performances in Monaco and Paris showed that he can get the Blitzboks back to their former glories and we are pleased to have him on board,” Oberholzer said.
He said the former captain brings deep institutional knowledge of the Springbok Sevens with him, having played in 62 world series events, two Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments and a Commonwealth Games where the team won gold.
Locked in! Philip Snyman has been appointed as the #Blitzboks' head coach until the next Olympic Games - more here: https://t.co/arYA01EhDU ?#PoweredByUnity pic.twitter.com/xpRkoPIZAW
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) September 12, 2024
“Philip is also the only person in the game who has won medals as a player and a coach at the Olympics,” he added.
The newly appointed Blitzboks head-coach said it was a “massive honour” for him, adding that there is a lot of work ahead of them.
“I can’t wait to get going and I would like to thank SA Rugby’s leadership for the trust they have placed in me. We have a solid core of players, and I will be looking at ways to strengthen our player base and depth to such an extent that we will be contending for titles and medals regularly.”
Snyman, who won medals as a player and a coach, had previously coached Uganda and Germany before returning to the green and gold last year.
