Siviwe “Shakes” Soyizwapi expects a fresh effort and focus from the Blitzboks in Singapore this week to finish the regular World Rugby SVNS season strong.
According to the veteran campaigner, what happened in Hong Kong stayed in Hong Kong, and the squad arrived in Singapore for the sixth leg of the 2024-25 campaign with a clear mission – hoping to repeat the glories of 2004 and 2019, when the South Africans 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.
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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.”
Blitzboks’ Pool A schedule in Singapore:
Saturday
vs Great Britain (7.26am)
vs Argentina (10.44am)
Photo: @Blitzboks/Twitter
