Springbok Sevens_X
Blitzboks coach Phillip Snyman says their plans for this year’s HSBC SVNS are still in place despite placing second in Vancouver.
They fell short of winning the Vancouver title, losing 19-12 to Argentina in the final, but Snyman said the wider picture is still rosy with most of their objectives reached on this trip to Canada.
In a statement on Monday, Snyman said finishing in the top four in any tournament and ensuring depth in the team is among the most important objectives for the year
“We want to reach at least the semi-finals of every tournament and we are at three out of four there, while Sebastiaan Jobb and Zander Reynders got good game time during the tournament, which is great,” he said.
Jobb unfortunately received a red card in the semi-final against Fiji, forcing the Blitzboks to play with six men for 10 minutes, but his team’s response made Snyman proud.
“Playing Fiji with seven is already tough enough, so to have only six on the field and coming from behind on the scoreboard to win made me very proud,” said Snyman of the victory, which came from the last play of the match.
He added that the guys showed what the jersey meant to them by never giving up in that match and working extra hard to compensate for the missing defender.
“That performance is one I will remember for a long time.”
With the Blitzboks firmly established as a title contender with two rounds left, Snyman has a couple of weeks to prepare his troops for the back-to-back tournaments in Hong Kong (28-30 March) and Singapore (5-6 April). The final stop is the Grand Finale in Los Angeles (3-4 May).
“We are still in with a realistic chance to win the series and that is great, but we will continue with expanding our player depth at those two tournaments,” said Snyman.
“Once back home, the management will discuss our roster for that trip and how we are going to approach it. For now, we are in a good position and mindset. Yes, we lost the final but we gained in many other areas."
