Brits, Seb join Blitzboks for Singapore job

David Brits and Sebastiaan Jobb have been called up to the Blitzboks squad for the sixth leg of the SVNS Series in Singapore this week.

They join Philip Snyman’s charges in the Far East after the Hong Kong Sevens, where South Africa finished ninth overall. Brits and Jobb will replace the injured Quewin Nortje and Gino Cupido, respectively.

Where the swop between Jobb – who had to serve a two-match suspension – and Cupido was confirmed before departure to Hong Kong last week, in order for the latter to join the Junior Springboks training squad, Brits was on standby in case of injury.

“We continued with our training on this side, in case of a call-up, so I am ready and eager to go,” said Brits shortly before departure from Cape Town on Monday.

Brits has clear objectives for this trip to Singapore, his first since joining the Blitzboks: “I will bring some smiles and lots of energy with me, that is for sure. The guys will also be happy to see a familiar face or two from home after almost two weeks on tour.

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“Our performances were not the usual standard, so the mood will be down. That is professional sport for you, the highest of highs, but also the lowest of lows. But they will be back, this team is good enough, as they have shown in the past, to play and win finals.”

The Singapore format will be the same as it was in Cape Town in December, with teams only playing two pool matches, with the four group winners progressing straight to the semi-finals. The Blitzboks face Great Britain and Hong Kong champions, Argentina, in Pool A.

As was the case in Cape Town, where South Africa won the tournament, they will face series leaders Argentina. For Brits, that is no train smash.

“I prefer this format, to be honest – playing only four games is far less taxing on your legs, but that is just my preference,” he said.

“Yes, we are playing Argentina again, like we did in Cape Town, and I believe we can get the same result. They are playing well at the moment and deservedly won last weekend, but we don’t fear them as an opponent.

“We know that if we are at our best, we can beat anyone. Last weekend, we had some lapses, teams targeted us at the breakdowns and we battled to get decent possession. But that is done now, we will start this week with a clean slate and determined to deliver a great result.”

Blitzboks’ Pool A schedule in Singapore:

Saturday: vs Great Britain (7.26am), vs Argentina (10.44am).

Photo: Christopher Pike/Getty Images