SNYMAN PRAISES BLITZBOKS FOR PERTH VICTORY
The Springbok Sevens team won the HSBC SVNS Perth title on Sunday with a close but well-earned victory over Fiji at HBF Park, and Philip Snyman commended them for their effort and faith.
The Blitzboks' hopes of winning the HSBC SVNS title were maintained by their convincing 21-19 victory in the final, which came after their fourth-place finish in Singapore last weekend. They will now travel to Vancouver and Los Angeles for the final leg of the series, just four log points behind the top-seeded Fiji.
The team's head coach, Snyman, stated, "It was huge for us to end the tour like this."
"The results were fantastic, and we also gave more players experience and exposure on the circuit by bringing a few young players on tour, making it to the semifinals in Singapore, and winning in Perth." I am therefore really pleased and proud overall. Snyman also noted Sebastiaan Jobb, who rejoined the team after more than a year, even though Luan Giliomee and Renaldo Young received their maiden Blitzbok caps in Singapore and Perth, respectively.
"Jobb is a good example of what we mean when we talk about competitive excellence," Snyman remarked.
In addition to making significant tackles and turnovers, he contributed a lot of energy and scored some vital tries for us. We will be in a strong position if we can get three guys in each position pushing one another. We needed the younger players to get this experience because we had Impi Visser, Dewald Human, Ronald Brown, Selvyn Davids, Quewin Nortje, and Gino Cupido recuperating from injuries back home. As a result, everything would be better.
The Blitzbok coach gave the players credit for resolving the problems that hindered their performances in Singapore a week prior, and were fixed once they arrived in Perth.
He stated, "We needed to increase our strike rate in the opposition's 22, keep the ball longer, and create pressure points on defence by forcing turnovers and then striking."
"I'm glad we were able to turn it around and play with much more control and precision because we did all of those this weekend."
Snyman claimed that poise, tough defence, and discipline were key to the team's triumph in the final: "We had two players in the sin bin in both of our previous losses, in Singapore and yesterday in the pool, and that was just not going to help us in a tight match against an attacking team like Fiji."
But in the end, we maintained our poise and applied constant pressure. After we scored two early tries, they did rally, but the players remained steadfast, and the bench had the appropriate effect to keep them out for three minutes. Everyone should be extremely proud of their work since that was a unique performance."
“That said, hard work awaits once we get back home to make sure we keep up those standards. It was a good trip, and we are thankful for all the support we received from the crowds as well as the supporters back home.”