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 coach 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.
At the start of the 2026 season, the Springbok Sevens committed themselves that they will give everything to build a squad and a value system that will conquer all, and that job is not done yet.
Fair to say success tends to follow Springbok Sevens outside back Gino Cupido, and where top-class rugby has been played on the global stage in 2025 and 2026, he has left a footprint.
Few in the world of HSBC SVNS will know of Wegdraai, a town in the Northern Cape of South Africa with a population of 2200, but come next weekend in Spain, those attending the second leg of the World Championship will catch a glimpse of one of the town’s finest exports.
Backline players Dewald Human and Gino Cupido have been included in the Springbok Sevens squad that will travel to Spain and France on Sunday to compete in the final two HSBC SVNS World Championship tournaments, in Valladolid and Bordeaux. (more…)
The absolute joy of the HSBC SVNS Cape Town crowd – when the Blitzboks won a consecutive home tournament at DHL Stadium in December last year – was shared by Sebastiaan Jobb, and at that moment, the Springbok Sevens wing made a promise to himself: he was going to be part of the next trophy lift.
The back story of their first victory in Hong Kong was written daily at the Springbok Sevens team’s training base in Stellenbosch, the place they will return to as they start their next mission, the HSBC SVNS World Championship Valladolid in Spain next month.
The Springbok Women’s Sevens enjoyed the highs of winning an important pool match but also experienced the lows of finding the intensity of top teams such as Australia and Canada too hot to handle at this weekend’s Cathay / HSBC SVNS Hong Kong. (more…)
The Springbok Sevens squad that won their very first HSBC SVNS Hong Kong tournament in such a clinical and commanding fashion deserve all the applause and credit for doing so, but according to Blitzbok head coach Philip Snyman, they will not get ahead of themselves as their dream season is not over yet.
Getting it right five times out of six was a good reflection of the standards the Springbok Sevens set for themselves in 2026, but the most valuable lesson was to make sure you start from zero every time.