What happened in Hong Kong stayed in Hong Kong and the Springbok Sevens squad arrived in Singapore this week with a fresh mind and effort, but also with a clear mission – to finish the regular HSBC SVNS season with an performance that will do justice to the team, country and the badge on their chests.
That was the clear message from Siviwe “Shakes” Soyizwapi as the Blitzboks completed a solid training session in a hot and humid Singapore, where they are hoping to repeat the glories of 2004 and 2019, when they left the National Stadium as champions.
“Each tournament has its own merits and you literally have to start all over again,” said Soyizwapi.
“Same here in Singapore, where we arrived with a fresh focus. We sat down after the Hong Kong tournament, cleared the air and then left that behind.
“You can’t assume things or aspects of play will go well just because it did so in a previous tournament, you need to start from scratch again. You might think there is doom and gloom but there is not, as we will go into this weekend with a mindset that things can be done, that we have a system that works and a process that can be trusted.”
Soyizwapi has successfully transitioned from wing into the forwards in recent tournaments and is still scoring tries as a prop and hooker. He dotted down twice in Hong Kong and with 156 tries to his name, he is closing in on 800 career points in his 59th tournament.
On the other side of the scale is Zander Reynders, who is hoping to score his first try in the fifth tournament of his career. The lanky forward, who made his debut in Cape Town, where the Blitzboks claimed gold, and said the journey has been very rewarding and he is keen to contribute.
“I am learning so much from everyone,” said Reynders.
“Luckily for me, amongst the forwards, we have a couple of guys that have played 50 plus tournaments so I can tap into their experience all the time and that is great. They have been of great help as well, always willing to assist.”
Reynders made a couple of starts in Hong Kong, having played off the bench before that, something that has added to his desire to contribute to the team.
“There is just a wonderful culture of caring and sharing in the squad and it is almost inevitable that you would like to respond to that,” said Reynders, who completed his degree in computer enigineering last year.
“I can do that by delivering my best effort every time I step onto the field. This is a fantastic journey for me and I am so happy to be part of this. For now, I am hoping to stay in this system as I really feel at home with this group of people and their values.”
Bleachers
160 international Rugby caps and still going – Alun Wyn Jones of Wales is a behemoth in the sport. He has over 160 international caps to his name and he’s still going. He’s played at 4 world cups (2007-2019) which is a record, has played in 4 Lions Tours (2009-2021), which is also a record, and has clocked up over 225 appearances for the Ospreys too. Someone needs to check in his loft for a portrait of himself, because this guy just keeps going and going.
Wiccan Trouble
The African Leopards are a pan-African representative team that aims to promote rugby throughout the continent.