Blitzboks face reflection after frustrating Singapore finish

SOUTH Africa’s Springbok Sevens head coach, Philip Snyman, expressed frustration and disappointment after the Blitzboks’ fourth-place finish at the HSBC SVNS Singapore on Sunday.

The team dropped both matches at the National Stadium, losing 19-17 to France in the semi-finals before falling 21-14 to New Zealand in the playoff for third place.

“It was certainly not our best performance in a while,” said Snyman. “There was no lack of effort out there, but our execution and decision-making were not up to standard, and we paid the price for that.”

The result saw South Africa slip from the top of the series standings to third, sitting on 46 points. Fiji claimed their first tournament win of the 2026 World Series to move to the summit with 52 points, while New Zealand is second with 48 points.

Snyman acknowledged several areas where the team fell short but refused to pin the result on the relative inexperience of some squad members.

“There was a risk in bringing a couple of players with very little, if any, tournament experience, but we are working towards squad depth,” he explained. “I was happy with the efforts of Luan Giliomee, making his debut, and Nabo Sakoyo, playing his second tournament. We anticipated that it could affect us a little, but overall, we were just not good enough.”

He added that the younger players gained valuable exposure. “Luan, playing in his first tournament, experienced what it is to play against teams like Fiji, France, and New Zealand. That experience will be important moving forward.”

Snyman singled out decision-making and clinical finishing as major concerns. “We created so many opportunities but hardly took any of them. With the margins in this series, that is going to affect the final results. We were poor in both areas.”

Discipline was another area for reflection. “We conceded two yellow cards against Fiji. That is not how you beat them. We also gave away possession too easily and too often, which prevented us from building cohesion in attack. We want to play a very fast game to tire our opponents, but to do that, you need to look after the ball.”

Looking ahead, the Blitzboks are set to regroup and address their shortcomings ahead of the HSBC SVNS Perth, where they will face Fiji, Spain, and Argentina in Pool A at HBF Stadium on 7 and 8 February.

“We have an internal scorecard on our team standards, and we will revisit that to remind ourselves what we stand for and what our standards are as the Springbok Sevens team,” Snyman concluded.