Blitzbok coach Philip Snyman said they may have won four of the six World Series tournaments this year, but they start from scratch in the first of three World Championship events, in Hong Kong this weekend.
The South African Sevens team has never won the showpiece in Asia, deemed to be the birthplace of world Sevens events.
“We did the reset and we are ready for what Hong Kong will throw at us,” Snyman said. “We had a good week, worked hard and we are ready to play.”
Blitzboks maintain their standards
The Blitzbok coach said key to resetting after every tournament was to reflect and analyse what they did well and why it worked for them.
“We also realised that something you did well in the previous tournament does not automatically carry over into the next. You have to start again, as you just cannot expect things to happen. You need to work very hard to make sure your standards are the highest it can be,” he said.
They laid out their standards at the start of the season and always started from there, Snyman explained, “We have five fundamentals that we base our season on, and we have experienced success when those are non-negotiable on the day.
“Effort and attitude, combined with those fundamentals, brought us far this year. But we start afresh, knowing it will take an exceptional effort to be successful this weekend.”
All three their pool opponents are Spanish-speaking teams and play in a very similar way, but that analysis will not bear fruit if the Blitzboks are not switched on.
Snyman said discipline would be crucial. “We don’t want to lose any players due to cards and when we have the ball in hand, we need to keep that possession. The players are focused and ready.”
Pools:
A: South Africa, Argentina, Spain, Uruguay
B: Fiji, France, Great Britain, Germany
C: New Zealand, Australia, Kenya, USA
Blitzboks pool schedule (all matches live on SuperSport, SA times)
Friday, 17 April
5.39am Uruguay
8.49am Spain
Saturday, 18 April
4.39am Argentina
