The Blitzboks hit the ground running in Hong Kong on Monday with their first training session only a few hours after arriving in the Far East.

They had a gym session before lunch to get rid of the jet lag and then hit the training field late afternoon, as the action in the Hong Kong Sevens kicks off on Friday.

The Blitzboks will face Ireland Ireland – currently second on the standings behind Argentina, five spots ahead of South Africa – and Spain in their first two pool matches on Friday, and will wrap up their pool fixtures on Saturday against Samoa.

For the Blitzboks, it’s been a time of transition with Philip Snyman taking over as head coach from Sandile Ngcobo, who suggested he moves across to work with players in the wider squad.

And although they have travelled to Hong Kong with a new head coach, Blitzbok captain Selvyn Davids said things didn’t change all that much.

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“Coach Philip has been in our system, so there weren’t too many changes, we know him and we know what he expects of us,” said Davids, who will be playing in his 35th sevens tournament this weekend.

“For us as players, the most important thing was to stay focused on what we had to do, and what was asked of us to do by the coach. Our focus hasn’t really changed.”

According to Davids, the players know they will be given more responsibility on the field, but they will also be afforded the opportunity to try things and express themselves.

“It makes it much easier for us, because if you are comfortable in what you do, it’s easier to go out onto the field and express yourself,” he said.

“If you are scared of making mistakes, that is when errors will creep into your game, so to give us the opportunity to be the best version of ourselves on the field, puts us in a much better space and mindset.”

Blitzbok pool fixtures:

Friday, 5 April
v Ireland, 5:39am
v Spain, 8:23am

Saturday, 6 April
v Samoa, 4:16am

Photo: @Blitzboks/Twitter

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