After travelling the “gravel road” to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the Team South Africa Sevens quest for that elusive gold medal starts with two tough assignments.
The Blitzboks face favourites for the gold medal Ireland and New Zealand on the opening day of the Sevens competition at the Paris Olympics at Stade de France on Wednesday after sneaking into the Summer Games via the back door.
After failing to qualifying automatically, the South Africans were stunned by Kenya in the Africa qualifiers and had one final shot at the Games at World Rugby Sevens Repechage tournament in Monaco.
The Blitzboks then clicked into gear in the Principality, going through the tournament unbeaten before clinching their place in Paris with a nervy win over Great Britain in the final.
They went back to basics in Monaco, backing their ferocious defence and skill and speed on the counter to get the job done.
A Beautiful afternoon with the Captains of all the Sevens Teams.#TeamSA#ForMyCountry#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/8O6i2gwhRW
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) July 22, 2024
Now, the team has put their poor season behind them and are ready to show that South African grit and spirit in Paris. Coach Philip Snyman – a bronze medallist from the 2016 Games in Rio – said they have done everything possible to be at their competitive best this week.
“We are ready,” said Snyman. “We had a good week of preparation since we arrived here, which included a good training session against Uruguay two days ago. That helped us a lot, as a match is always better than just training as a squad.
“We saw different pictures on attack and defence and had to adapt accordingly. It was a well worth exercise and sharpened us up nicely for the matches against Ireland and New Zealand.”
Winning medals at the biggest sporting event in the world has a different prestige, but Snyman said that did not change their mindset and they they are not approaching the tournament differently because it is the Olympics.
“For us, it will just be another opportunity to represent our country and to deliver our best effort for the jersey,” he said.
“Yes, the reward might be different, but the game remains the same and that is where our focus will be tomorrow.”
The attacking breakdown was a big focus for the Blitzboks ahead of the Olympics. It’s a part of the game where they have struggled this season, because of a lack of bulk and physicality in that department.
The @Blitzboks hard at work in Stellenbosch ahead of the Olympics. The team departs for Paris later this week. pic.twitter.com/HH0tnB2cca
They have worked on ways to secure the ball a lot better, while also playing a lot quicker for it to get to the wide areas where the Blitzboks have experience, pace and skill.
“Both Ireland and New Zealand have the same in style and approach. They are bigger than us and more physical and will attack our breakdown in order to slow us down,” said Snyman.
“We have real magic and speed on the outside and teams will try and prevent us to use that.”
Snyman said their defensive effort will be crucial if they want to start on a positive note. They will take a lot of heart from their defensive performances in Monaco, where they were back to their stingy best without the ball.
Playing the Repechage in Monaco could also be a key factor, as most of the other teams haven’t played competitive Sevens rugby for a few months now.
“We need to make our tackles and put pressure on their attackers. They are a dangerous side when they have momentum, so we need to stop them for getting going.”
“We are the only team to play in the repechage in Monaco and had no break at the end of the world series in Madrid (at the beginning of June), so we are rugby fit and will be ready to go. That could just give us an edge on the other sides, who have not played tournament sevens as recently as we did,” added Snyman.
Blitzboks’ pool schedule (SA times, all matches on SuperSport)
Wednesday 24 July:
5.30pm: Ireland
9.30: New Zealand
Thursday 25 July
4pm: Japan
Team SA Sevens:
Christie Grobbelaar, Ryan Oosthuizen, Impi Visser, Zain Davids, Quewin Nortje, Tiaan Pretorius, Shaun Williams, Selvyn Davids (captain), Tristan Leyds, Rosko Specman, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Shilton van Wyk. Travelling reserves: Ronald Brown, Katlego Letebele.