Blitzboks interim coach Philip Snyman waiting to learn fate

By Mazola Molefe
27th August 2024

Following the announcement of several significant coaching appointments by SA Rugby [SARU], one of the glaring omissions in Philip Snyman has explained why his future remains in limbo.

The Blitzboks interim coach has recently returned with the side from the Olympic Games where he led them to a bronze medal, but Snyman did not feature in the latest development confirmed by SARU last week.

READ: Reeza Hendricks says Proteas will 'take the learnings' after T20 series loss

Speaking to SABC Sport on Final Analysis, the former captain believes conversations are still to take place behind the scenes to determine his fate.

''I think there's processes that one has to follow, like everyone has read in the newspapers there's a lot of stuff happening. Especially with the SA under-20 team, the women's sevens and the men's sevens. There's a lot of stuff happening, and hopefully in the next two or three weeks we can get clarity and start planning. We start our pre-season in the next week or two. I believe we can get clarity and then the system needs to go on and I believe we can take the system and be consistent in that top three again in the near future,'' said Snyman.

The Sprinbok Sevens were the last team to qualify for the Games in Paris after defeating Great Britain in a repechage fixture less than two months before the multi-sport event. But Snyman retold the story of how they remained hopeful they would not just make up the numbers.

''For us it was to keep a low profile and not make too much noise. We were a little bit lucky to qualify and for SASCOC to take us to the Games. Most of the teams there had training camps two before the Olympics. We arrived a day before the Village opened, and came in and kept a low profile. We gave ourselves a shot, saying yah, underdogs going into this tournament, so anything over the quarter-finals would be good. In our hearts we believed we could get medals, we had the right mindset and the right approach to the Olympics,'' added Snyman.

Snyman, whether he gets the role permanently or not, is confident that the bronze medal can restore faith in a Blitzboks side that has been formidable in the past, but suffered from global budget cuts.