Former Springbok Sevens captain Phillip Snyman has been appointed as head coach of the Blitzboks after taking care of the team in an acting capacity for the last six months, SA Rugby confirmed on Thursday.
Snyman took over as interim coach in March, following a series of poor results in HSBC SVNS, and under his guidance, the Blitzboks won the World Rugby Sevens Repechage tournament in Monaco to gain entry to the Olympic Games in Paris, where they walked away with the bronze medal.
SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer said the confirmation of Snyman’s new role – until the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 – was part of the governing body’s current high-performance restructuring process.
“The way Philip turned around the fortunes of the Blitzboks in a short time was remarkable and speaks volumes of his abilities as a coach,” said Oberholzer.
“Their performances in Monaco and Paris showed that he can get the Blitzboks back to their former glories and we are pleased to have him on board.
“As a former captain, Philip brings deep institutional knowledge of the Springbok Sevens with him, having played in 62 world series events, two Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments and a Commonwealth Games where the team won gold.
“Philip is also the only person in the game who has won medals as a player and a coach at the Olympics.”
Snyman, who has previous experience as head coach with Uganda and Germany before his appointment as Blitzbok assistant coach in 2023, thanked SA Rugby for their faith.
“It is a massive honour to be appointed as fulltime head coach, a position that demands the best of what the Blitzboks can be and a position I always aspired too when I became a coach,” said Snyman.
“There is a lot of work to be done, despite our recent results. We are still way off being a top three team and we will be working hard to get back to that position.
“I can’t wait to get going and I would like to thank SA Rugby’s leadership for the trust they have placed in me. We have a solid core of players, and I will be looking at ways to strengthen our player base and depth to such an extent that we will be contending for titles and medals regularly.”