South Africa Sevens captain Phillip Snyman has highlighted the long term project of the Blitzboks following their fourth-place finish in the HSBC World Sevens Series after defending their title last season.
The 32-year-old veteran had an injury ridden season and wasn’t able to be as a big a feature as he would have liked but expressed his delight in the latent that has come through the ranks over the season.
“I am confident that the next group of players can take the team to the same heights as before,” said Snyman, who won three World Series titles as a Blitzbok, the last two as captain of the side.
“Everyone understands that you only have the jersey for a certain amount of time and the responsibility is to leave it in a better place than before. You never know when it is your last game, so for every match you play, you must give it your all.”
The Blitzboks were without two former World Series Player of the Season winners as Rosko Specman and Saebelo Senatla chose to focus on their fifteens careers at the Bulls and Stormers respectively with both viewing a spot at the Rugby World Cup later this year as the ultimate goal.
Ruhan Nel and Dylan Sage are also not currently part of the Blitzboks setups.
As a result, it was very much a building year for Neil Powell’s side as they prepare for an Olympic gold medal charge next year in Tokyo.
