Blitzboks did it for ‘country, fans’, Snyman

SPRINGBOK Sevens captain Philip Snyman says their 2016/17 World Sevens Series title is “one for the country, one for the fans”.

The Blitzboks were crowned series champions in London despite their Plate final finish at Twickenham in the last leg of the series.

Scotland celebrated their second successive tournament win in London after beating England 12-7 in the final, but it remained a special day for South African rugby.

The Springbok Sevens team earlier won the fifth place final against Australia to end the season with a win, but it was their solid performances throughout the year that brought them glory.

The squad reached all 10 Cup quarterfinals, losing only two, and won the tournaments in Dubai, Wellington, Sydney, Las Vegas and Paris.

This was only the second time that the Blitzboks were crowned overall champions, after they also won the 2008/09 Series.

And the Blitzboks skipper dedicated the win to South Africa and all Blitzboks fans, saying the support throughout the season gave them much needed inspiration.

“We are proudly South Africans today and very proud champions. This one is for the country and for all our fans, especially those who watched us or listened to us play either late at night or early in the morning, when we were playing all over the world,” Snyman said.

“We received massive support, even when things did not go as planned. This was a huge effort and I am a very proud South African and Springbok Sevens player tonight.”

Snyman also said that it felt like just yesterday when they started the season in Dubai.

“It is hard to believe it is the end of the season already. It was a great season for us. To play in eight finals and win five is something we are very proud of.”

The Plate final against Australia was won in the second half, thanks to a brace of tries by Cecil Afrika and a spectacular final effort by Rosko Specman, who ran the length of the field to score the final try of the match, helping the South Africans to a 28-17 win, and the Blitzboks reached this final thanks to a 24-7 win over Argentina.

This match also saw the introduction of yet another new Blitzboks player, with Marco Labuschagne replacing Snyman for the final two matches, after Snyman was concussed against England.

Siviwe Soyizwapi scored twice and Dylan Sage opened the scoring while Dewald Human also got his first five-pointer for his country.

Earlier in the day, England scored a try after the hooter to beat the Blitzboks 17-12 in the Cup quarter-finals.

England opened the scoring to lead 5-0, but Chris Dry finished off some dazzling footwork from Specman to score and give SA a 7-5 lead at the break. It was 12-5 when Werner Kok raced through from the kickoff, but when the winger was sin-binned for an alleged neck roll, England scored the equaliser.

Then after the buzzer and extra-time looming, Norton squeezed into the corner for the match-winning try.