Relieved and proud about series win – Snyman
Springbok Sevens captain, Philip Snyman, applauded the massive team effort of his squad and gave credit to their management staff for preparing the team in the best possible way, after the Blitzboks secured the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series title in Paris on Sunday.
The Blitzboks clinched the HSBC Paris Sevens title as well, after earlier in the season winning in Dubai, Wellington, Sydney and Las Vegas and contested the finals in Cape Town, Vancouver and Hong Kong.
They wrapped up the series in the penultimate tournament of the series after closest contenders, Fiji and England faded out of contention.
“We actually did not know that England lost their semifinal match against Scotland as we were warming up for our own semi against New Zealand. We knew that we would be series champions if we beat New Zealand, so went out with all guns blazing to win that one, which we did. We were champions already and did not even know,” Snyman said with a smile.
“But then, it would not have mattered as we wanted to win it anyway. We are a team that believe in hard work and don’t want anything offered to us on a plate. We want to earn everything that comes our way,” Snyman said.
“We executed well, but massive credit must go our management team in this regard. They laid out the perfect game plan and we just executed that. The system worked perfectly, not only this weekend, but also all season and they deserve credit for that.”
Snyman was adamant that their mind set have not changed with the HSBC London Sevens remaining.
“We set out to win as many tournaments as we can, so nothing has changed now that we have won the series. The Blitzboks will still go out there and give everything they have to win in London. We are not letting our standards down.”
South Africa will face Kenya, Wales and USA in a tough pool A at the HSBC London Sevens, to be played at Twickenham.
Blitzboks tournament stats and facts:
- Two players, Chris Dry and Philip Snyman, made the Tournament Dream Team. They are also the leading tacklers in the series, with Snyman on 143 and Dry on 138 tackles made.
- Werner Kok was named Player of the Final. He scored five tries in Paris, the most for the team and with Ruhan Nel (18) made the most tackles for the tournament.
- Cecil Afrika has now extended his SA record for career points in the World Series to 1273, no 8 on the world list. He was South Africa’s top scorer at the tournament with 27 points.
- Branco du Preez are 10th on the world list for conversions kicked, with his Blitzboks record now on 328.
The top five sides on the log are:
- South Africa 179
- England 145
- Fiji 142
- New Zealand 127
- USA 114
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