The Springbok Sevens coach Philip Snyman said despite losing to Argentina in the final of the HSBC SVNS Vancouver by 19-12, he’s still happy as the team met its objectives.
According to Snyman, the team’s plans are still intact. “Make no mistake, it is never nice to lose in a final, you go all the way to put yourself in a position to win the tournament, and to then come up short is not part of the plan.
“But credit to Argentina, who were the better team in that game. They were more clinical than us, especially in that first half, and scored the points when it mattered. We came back well, but just could not get the win,” said Snyman.
The Blitzboks have now finished fifth in Dubai, won in Cape Town, placed fourth in Perth and taken silver in Vancouver, which leave them six points shy of log leaders, Argentina.
The coach had indicated at the start of the season that his objectives are a top four finish in every tournament and expanding his playing depth.
“We want to reach at least the semi-finals of every tournament, and we are at three out of four there, while Sebastiaan Jobb and Zander Reynders got good game time during the tournament, which is great.
From that perspective I am more than pleased.
The mistakes we made can be fixed and we can tweak one of two things, so we are in a good spot at the moment,” explained Snyman.
The Blitzboks are expected back in the country on Wednesday to prepare for the back-to-back tournaments in Hong Kong (28-30 March) and Singapore (5-6 April).
The final stop is the Grand Finale in Los Angeles (3-4 May).
“We are still in with a realistic chance to win the series and that is great, but we will continue with expanding our player depth at those two tournaments.
Once back home, the management will have a discussion on our roster for that trip and how we are going to approach it.
For now, we are in a good position and mindset.
Yes, we lost the final, but we gained in many other areas,” remarked the coach.
