Philip Snyman is pleased to see the Blitzboks secure a place in the Hong Kong Sevens quarter-finals, but wants a strong finish to the pool stage against Samoa on Saturday.
The Springbok Sevens rebounded from a poor North American leg by going unbeaten on day one of the Hong Kong tournament, with convincing pool victories over Ireland (22-17) and Spain (24-10) all but securing them a spot in the quarter-finals.
The Blitzboks still need to play Samoa in their final pool match at 04h16 (SA time) on Saturday, but their two wins will be enough to secure them a spot in the top-eight, along with either Ireland or Spain, who face each other on the second day.
Interim head coach Snyman was happy with the results, saying their first objective – making the quarter-finals – was achieved, which made for a successful day one.
“We want to top our pool, so the job is not done as we still need to beat Samoa tomorrow morning, but the two wins over Ireland and Spain was a good effort,” said Snyman.
“We started really well against Ireland, but then lost a bit of composure. Against Spain, we first could not get enough possession, but once we had hands on the ball, the points came.
“We are a dangerous team with ball in hand. There were still mistakes on the day, but we will work on those overnight and come back stronger tomorrow.”
Unfortunately for the Blitzboks, Justin Geduld was red carded against Ireland and he was suspended for three matches, which means he won’t be available to play on Saturday.
Photo: Twitter (X)/@Blitzboks