The Springbok Sevens coach Philip Snyman said “he has an ace up his sleeve” when the team kick-off its pool games against Uruguay, Australia, and New Zealand in their pool at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens at the new venue, Kai Tak stadium on Friday.
The Blitzboks are hoping that a change of venue may bring good fortunes, as they had no luck at the previous venue, the Hong Kong stadium, in almost three decades.
The team has been practicing hard since arriving in Hong Kong on Monday, for the fifth HSBC SVNS tournament this season, and Snyman said its now time for the players to implement their plans today against Uruguay and Australia.
“We have a plan and a clear strategy on how we want to approach these opening two matches on Friday. Without giving too much away, we realise that it will be our execution and precision that will be most important. Uruguay does not stop trying and will be playing for 14 minutes, so there will be no time for a breather. We have a plan to outfox their defensive alignment, they do come off the line at great speed and we need to combat that,” said Snyman.
The coach said the same strategy will be repeated against Australia, who he cautioned that had some cunning plays from set pieces and penalties.
“They had some success against us in previous tournaments, so we adapted accordingly. They’re very experienced as well, but as with Uruguay, I believe we have the talent and game plan to beat both of them, even with sevens being as unpredictable as it is,” explained Snyman.
The team is boosted by the return to the Sevens format by Dewald Human and Zain Davids, while the uncapped Gino Cupido will be an unknown factor.
“Zain’s power is well documented and Dewald is such an old head in this game, so it is great having them around again. Dewald also aided Gino, whom I predict to achieve great things in rugby. He may only be 19 years old but is full of potential and a player I rate highly already.
We will need him during the tournament to do his thing and he is fortunate to have some very experienced players around him when that moment arrives,” explained the coach.
Cupido in the meanwhile, is eager to make his mark in the tournament.
“This is a dream achieved, rather than a dream coming true. I tried lots of sports, but rugby fitted best, and sevens rugby has been great for me.
“Not only does it prepare you very well for the fifteens game, but I found a rugby family in this team, who have been nothing but amazing to me since I joined. To be pulling that jersey over my head tomorrow (Friday) will be very special for my family and me, and doing that at such an iconic event will even make it more special,” remarked an elated Cupido.
