Springbok Sevens head coach Philip Snyman did not mince words following his team’s disappointing fourth-place finish at the HSBC SVNS Singapore on Sunday, pointing to poor execution and decision-making as the primary culprits behind their National Stadium double defeat.
The Blitzboks endured a forgettable Sunday in Singapore, falling to France in the semi-finals before New Zealand consigned them to fourth place in the bronze medal playoff.
“It was certainly not our best performance in a while,” Snyman admitted when reflecting on his side’s Sunday showing. “There was no lack of effort out there, but our execution and decision-making were not up to standard, and we paid the price for that.”
The disappointing weekend saw South Africa tumble from the summit of the standings to third place on 46 points. Fiji claimed their first tournament of the 2026 world series to surge to the top of the table with 52 points, whilst New Zealand now occupy second spot on 48 points.
Snyman identified numerous areas where his charges failed to meet their customary high standards but refused to attribute the overall result to his squad’s lack of experience. “There was a risk in bringing a couple of players with very little, if any tournament experiences under the belt, but we are working towards squad depth as well,” he explained. “I was happy with the efforts of Luan Giliomee (debut) and Nabo Sakoyo (one tournament). We anticipated that it could affect us a little, but overall, we were just not good enough.”
The coach highlighted poor decision-making and a lack of clinical finishing as the most glaring deficiencies. “We created so many opportunities but hardly took any of them and with the margins in this series, that is going to affect the final results. We were poor in both areas.”
Discipline emerged as another critical concern. “We conceded two yellow cards against Fiji, that is not how you beat them,” Snyman stated. “We simply did not look after our possession well enough.”
The Blitzboks face Fiji, Spain and Argentina in Pool A of the HSBC SVNS Perth at the HBF Stadium on 7 and 8 February.
