Blitzboks: Cape Town win will not help in Singapore

As big as their win in Cape Town was last month, the Blitzboks are looking ahead to the fresh challenge of this weekend’s Sevens tournament in Singapore.

That was the view of Blitzbok forward Zander Reynders, who departed with the rest of the squad from Cape Town on Monday for the long haul to Asia.

The Blitzboks will face Great Britain, Spain and Fiji in pool play in the National Stadium in Singapore on Saturday and according to Reynders, who has three tournament victories in the green and gold already, they will be well prepared for their opponents.

“With only eight teams playing over six tournaments, you are going to play each team a couple of times, so one knows what to expect a bit more,” said Reynders.

“The margins are going to be small and even our opening game could be seen as a quarter-final, such is the competitiveness of the series. What we do know is that Cape Town’s performances will not help us in Singapore, we need to go out again and do it from scratch.”

Blitzboks target Singapore

South Africa have enjoyed limited success in Singapore, having won the tournament in 2004 and 2019, but for Reynders the scoring of his first Blitzbok try at the same venue last year was something he will not easily forget.

“It was not the best of trips – it was on the back of a disappointing weekend in Hong Kong where we did not perform as expected,” he said.

“It did not go well in Singapore either [the Blitzboks finished ninth], so I am hoping for an improvement on those emotions and results.”

The travelling squad include two newcomers in Renaldo Young and Luan Giliomee, but they don’t need to fear the unknown as Reynders, like the rest of the squad, will try to make their trip a memorable one.

That started at departure already, where Reynders took them ‘under his wing’: “I was a rookie in the side last year, so I know what the things are that could affect a new player when on tour the first time, like where to sit at meals.