- The Blitzboks won the Cape Town Sevens, defeating France 26-14 in the final.
- Coach Philip Snyman praised the players for their resilience and teamwork.
- The victory ended a nine-year drought for the team at their home tournament.
Philip Snyman, coach of the Blitzboks, followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, Neil Powell, by winning the HSBC 7s home tournament as a player and a coach, when his side beat France in the final by 26-14. Snyman was a player in 2015 at the inaugural Cape Town 7s and is now the coach.
He was all smiles after the win and gave the credit to the players, especially after they lost their Dubai title at their sixth attempt the weekend of 30 November and 1 December.
In Dubai the Blitzboks were deprived of the ball, made mistakes at crucial times or missed tackles, all factors which cost them the game.
Zane Davids, co-captain, says they were distraught after Dubai and promised themselves to do one better before their home crowd and with home ground advantage.
“We were determined not to fall in the same trap as in Dubai and not use our opportunities. Each player in the squad knew their roles and what was expected of each of us to make amends in Cape Town. I must commend Snyman for believing in the Dubai squad and giving us the chance to show what we really are capable off. I think you can see the guys are [already] celebrating. We really wanted this. The guys showed a lot of heart out there – we played for each other,” Davids says.
Ricardo Duarttee, who made a comeback in Dubai after nearly two years, took no prisoners and showed he still has a trick or two up his sleeve on the first day. The past weekend he was instrumental in the performance of the team by scoring a try or two and assisting others to keep the scoreboard rolling. He took responsibility for goal kicking as well and showed his prowess, which gave him the nickname “Tricky Ricky” when he made his debut in Dubai in 2022.
In the past two tournaments, there were outstanding players like Shaun Williams, Shilton van Wyk, Donavan Don, Tristan Leyds and stalwart and co-captain Impi Visser.
Don was sublime with his acceleration through the gap and secure passes to a teammate in a better position to dot down behind the goal line.
Two areas identified
Snyman said the Blitzboks identified two areas in their play they had to improve on since last weekend’s tournament in Dubai.
“We wanted to apply more pressure on defence and then play from turnover ball, and make sure we get the ball to our playmakers on the outside as soon as possible. We were very clinical and only conceded two tries on the first day and we clicked into a higher gear on day two. Slow starts in the semi-final and the final made things a bit difficult, but the guys showed a lot of character to come back and win those games. The players executed our plans to perfection this weekend – they showed what we are capable of. They really played very well.”
Snyman says the entire squad worked hard in the last few months and the victory in Cape Town was just reward for the hours and hours spent on the training pitch.
“This goes to every South African who kept on supporting us – we have the best supporters in the world and hopefully this will be the start of big things for the Blitzboks,” he added. “It’s just incredible. It’s been nine years since we last won it, so it’s great to break the curse and give the people of Cape Town something to really celebrate. We knew that we have a special group of players, but we came up a bit short last week in Dubai. Some new guys came in and really stepped up this week. We’re building something really special and once we have that self-belief we can really go to that number one spot,” Visser says.
The win is dedicated to all the players who were not on the field over the weekend.
