Blitzboks ready to retain their crown

– The Springbok Sevens team have tasted success at the Dubai Sevens as recently as last year, but for Blitzboks captain Philip Snyman and his team, that is nothing more than a pleasant memory.

In fact, said the 47-tournament stalwart, it all starts afresh tomorrow when they face Uganda in their opening match. Snyman is also expecting the reigning World Rugby Sevens Series champions to be more competitive than ever before, and a very tough defence of their overall series title.

“Dubai has been a happy hunting ground for us in the past, but this is a new season and everyone are starting with fresh minds and bodies,” said Snyman.

“Even our squad, as experienced as we are, came back together with new energy.

“We will see a lot of the teams more settled this season, with not as many new faces and coaches as was the case last year when we started the season here in Dubai.

“So it is definitely going to be tougher this time around. We need to be at our best from the start.”

Snyman said the Blitzboks enjoyed the glory of being champions in 2016/17, but it now is something for the history books.

“We already left last season behind when we started our new pre-season camp. We needed to make that mind shift. The focus now goes to that first match against Uganda. We need to be ready for that match and take it from there.”

Their match against Uganda kicks off at 8.52am SA time tomorrow, followed by their next two group outing against Kenya at 12.36pm and Canada at 5.53pm.

The Springbok Women’s Sevens team are also competing in Dubai on an invite and will use the tournament to gain valuable experience before taking part in the Commonwealth Games at the Gold Caost in March.

They take on New Zealand, the US and France today. – Own Correspondent