Four injured players in rehab as coach Snyman’s team works towards Dubai season-opener

The Springbok Sevens squad are in their final two weeks of preparation for the forthcoming HSBC Sevens Series season with Blitzboks coach Philip Snyman happy most of his established players are “fit and ready”.

South Africa travel to Dubai on November 23 for the opening leg of the 2027 series, to be held at The Sevens Stadium on November 28 and 29, then return to prepare for the next weekend’s Cape Town Sevens.

Snyman will name his 13-player squad for Dubai on Friday, but until then will keep a watchful eye on a large training group that includes all but two of the 2026 squad that won both the Sevens Series and World Championship.

Mfundo Ndhlovu and Donavan Don have left the squad for United Rugby Championship opportunities, while Impi Visser, Zander Reynders, Jayden Nell and Shilton van Wyk are busy with rehabilitation and will miss the opening leg of the new season.

Like last season, when he blooded six new players, Snyman is looking to again introduce talent but said the focus for the season will change slightly.

“With Olympic Games qualification determined by the final placings of the 2027 World Championship tournaments, we will make sure we have our best team ready for those events,” he said from his team’s Stellenbosch training base on Tuesday.

“To be able to do that, we will use the first six tournaments of the series to build depth and cover in certain crucial positions.

“Most of our established group of players are fit and ready, apart from the four injured players, while we also invited some very exciting younger talents into camp.

“There are a number of players who played for the Junior Springboks over the last two years, while some standouts in the FNB Varsity Cup were also drafted into this group. We also have some loan players from the franchises, such as JC Mars from the Stormers, who are training with us.”

We have seen in the past how important that tournament is for our younger group as they also have international teams playing in it, and it also gives them a real feel of tournament play.

—  Philip Snyman, Blitzboks coach

Snyman is pleased with the energy and talent on display. “No one in the contracted group is resting on their laurels, while the new players are pushing hard for more permanent opportunities and that delivers a very competitive environment.”

The coach is set to split the squad into two smaller groups, one with focus on the Sevens Series, while the second group will also travel to Dubai to play in the International Invitational Tournament.

“We have seen in the past how important that tournament is for our younger group as they also have international teams playing in it, and it also gives them a real feel of tournament play.”