Snyman to reach milestone at iconic Hong Kong Sevens
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – JANUARY 31: Philip Snyman of South Africa breaks away for a try during the 2016 Wellington Sevens cup quarter-final match between Australia and South Africa at Westpac Stadium on January 31, 2016 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
Springbok Sevens regular Philip Snyman will become the ninth South African to reach the special milestone of 35 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments when the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens kicks off on Friday noon (SA time).
The Springbok Sevens team marks 35 tournaments as a special milestone and since the inception of the World Series in 1999, only Fabian Juries, Marius Schoeman, Mzwandile Stick, Frankie Horne, Kyle Brown, Chris Dry, Cecil Afrika and Branco du Preez have reached this landmark.
The versatile Snyman, who has scored 206 points (35 tries, 15 conversions) in the Blitzbok jersey since his debut for the team in Dubai in 2008, is playing in his fifth Hong Kong tournament and said the 35 tournament marker is a significant one for him.
“Every tournament is special and to share this milestone with such an amazing bunch of guys and with this team makes it even more so,” said Snyman, who captained the team earlier this year in the Wellington and Sydney tournaments.
“I am not only proud to be playing in my 35th tournament, but to be able to play it with this brotherhood of men makes me even prouder. I will cherish this for the rest of my career and enjoy every moment of it.
“To play 35 tournaments is a special milestone in this team and I am proud to join that group who done it in the past. Hopefully we can make this one a special one for the record books as well.”
South Africa is yet to win the Cup at this iconic venue, but this did not add any pressure on the team, according to Snyman.
“Looking at Hong Kong, special as is, it is just another tournament in the bigger series,” said Snyman.
“We will focus on England in our first match on Friday and not look past that. Once that is done, we will move on to the next match. This is the seventh tournament of the season and we know that we need to establish the foundation first and build on that.”
The Springbok Sevens are in Pool B and will play England at 14h50 (SA time) on Friday, 8 April, and Russia (07h54) and Scotland (11h54) on Saturday, 9 April.
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