Snyman believes mental focus will be key in Spain

May 28, 2026
431
Ultimate Rugby

They know that they are physically up for the challenge to deliver the best season in the history of the Springbok Sevens, which is why Blitzbok Philip Snyman believes the key to their approach for the second of three HSBC SVNS World Championship events, this weekend at Estadio Jose Zorrilla in Valladolid, will be mental.

The Blitzboks have two Pool A encounters on Friday, against Great Britain and Kenya, and on Saturday they face Australia.

“There is no doubt that we will need our best performance of the season to be successful here this weekend,” said Snyman.

“We will need to play as a team where every individual delivers his best effort. We have identified certain focus points and how to make them smaller by zooming into them. One of those is to focus on ourselves and what we need to do, and not the opponents as such.”

They are aware of the bigger picture – being in a good position to win both the HSBC SVNS Series and the World Championship – but that is not where the focus has been in their preparations back home, or this week in sunny Valladolid.

“We have a good group of players here and all had done well during the season – from the most experienced players to the newer ones we brought into our squad this season – and we prepared well,” said Snyman.

“We know what we are capable of, but this will still require a fresh start for this tournament and for that matter, we do not look past the opening match against Great Britain.”

The Blitzbok coach was happy with their only training session of the week on Tuesday and said there is good energy and synergy in the squad: “We just needed to get those flights out of the systems and that worked, so we are ready. The players are in a good space as well, so we are looking forward to the weekend, but from a match perspective, it all starts against Great Britain.”

South Africa’s Pool A fixtures (SA times, all matches live on SuperSport):

Friday 29 May

12h34: Great Britain

17h08: Kenya

Saturday, 30 May

13h23: Australia

Head-to-Head:

Great Britain: Played 16, won 11. Average score 21-12. Last match: Vancouver 2026 – Won 21-5.

Kenya: Played 72, won 63. Average score 26-10. Last match: Hong Kong 2026 quarter-final – Won 26-22.

Australia: Played 116, won 75. Average score: 17-13. Last match: New York 2026 – Lost 12-19.

Selected Blitzbok stats for season:

Leading points scorers: