BlitzBoks to play with no fear under Snyman
SPOTLIGHT: BlitzBok captain Selvyn Davids says his team can’t be scared of making mistakes as they play their first tournament under new head coach Philip Snyman.
The BlitzBoks will face Ireland – currently second in the standings behind Argentina, five spots ahead of South Africa – and Spain in their first two pool matches in Hong Kong on Friday, and will wrap up their pool fixtures on Saturday against Samoa.
For the BlitzBoks, it’s been a time of transition with Snyman taking over as head coach from Sandile Ngcobo, who suggested he move across to work with players in the wider squad.
And although they have travelled to Hong Kong with a new head coach, Davids said things didn’t change all that much.
“Coach Philip has been in our system, so there weren’t too many changes – we know him and we know what he expects of us,” said Davids, who will be playing in his 35th HSBC SVNS tournament this weekend.
“For us as players, the most important thing was to stay focused on what we had to do, and what was asked of us to do by the coach. Our focus hasn’t really changed.”
According to Davids, the players know they will be given more responsibility on the field, but they will also be afforded the opportunity to try things and express themselves.
“It makes it much easier for us, because if you are comfortable in what you do, it’s easier to go out onto the field and express yourself,” he said.
“If you are scared of making mistakes, that is when errors will creep into your game, so to give us the opportunity to be the best version of ourselves on the field, puts us in a much better space and mindset.”
BlitzBok pool fixtures (SA times):
Friday, 5 April:
05.39: SA v Ireland
08.23: SA v Spain
Saturday, 6 April:
04.16: SA v Samoa
