New Blitzboks mentor Snyman welcomes back key quartet for Hong Kong trip

• New Blitzboks coach Philip Snyman has recalled four key players to his squad for the upcoming Hong Kong Sevens.
• Fit-again Christie Grobbelaar, Ronald Brown, Dewald Human and Quewin Nortje are all back in the fray.
• On the women's side, coach Renfred Dazel has included the uncapped Zandile Masuku in his squad, while Kyla de Vries is back from injury.
• For more news on the Blitzboks, visit our dedicated sevens rugby section.

Interim Springbok Sevens head coach, Philip Snyman, has opted for four changes to the squad for next weekend's Hong Kong Sevens (5-7 April).

Christie Grobbelaar, Ronald Brown, Dewald Human and Quewin Nortje were all absent on the recent North American leg of the world series but are back in the mix.

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With the Blitzboks lying a lowly seventh on the world series standings, SA Rugby decided to elevate former assistant coach Snyman to the head coaching role. He takes over from Sandile Ngcobo, who has moved back to the role of "coach to the next generation of sevens players".

Grobbelaar picked up an injury in the season-opener in Dubai last year and has not featured since, while Human is also back for the first time this year after last playing in Cape Town in December. Brown and Nortje were injured in Perth and missed the trips to Canada and the USA.

Two members of the team that played in Los Angeles, David Brits and Rosko Specman, were ruled out after picking up injuries at training recently, while Tristan Leyds and James Murphy miss out on this leg of the world series.

The Blitzboks also have an engagement at the Singapore Sevens from 3-5 May, before concluding their 2023/24 series commitments in Madrid from 31 May - 2 June.

Philip Snyman has been elevated to Blitzboks head coach. (Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images)

"We've decided to select the best possible squad with the most experience for this leg of the world series, but David and Rosko were not considered along with Siviwe Soyizwapi and Masande Mtshali, who are still busy with their recovery and not yet ready to play," Snyman said in a statement.

"It's great to welcome back Christie, Ronald, Dewald and Quewin though. They bring varying degrees of experience to the team, but all of them have something special in their skill sets and that is what we will need on this trip.

"We are acutely aware that our recent results were not up to scratch, and we owe ourselves and our supporters better performances, which is what we will aim to do in Hong Kong."

Blitzboks captain Selvyn Davids will run out in his 35th sevens tournament.

In Hong Kong, the Blitzboks will face Ireland - currently second in the world series standings - Spain and Samoa in Pool C.

"It's a tough pool and we will have to be switched on from the get-go," Snyman added.

"The nature of the world series is that there is no room for error as any team can beat another side on any given day and by now, something everyone is fully aware of by now.

"Our aim will be to get out of our pool and into the quarter-finals, and that is the only thing we are preparing for at the moment."

Two changes for Springbok Women's Sevens

Meanwhile, Springbok Women's Sevens coach Renfred Dazel has included the uncapped Zandile Masuku in his squad for the Hong Kong trip, while Kyla de Vries is back after missing the North American leg due to injury.

De Vries, who last featured in Perth in January, takes over from Bianca Augustyn, and Masuku will travel to the Far East in place of Marlize de Bruin.

While she is yet to play in a world series event, Masuku is not new to the national sevens set-up. Last year, she featured for the Springbok Women's Sevens 'A' team in Dubai in December, while she also played in the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in April, and in 2022 she featured at the Commonwealth Games in England.

The SA women are 10th on the series standings.