New Blitzboks mentor Snyman welcomes back key quartet for Hong Kong trip

Interim Springbok Sevens head coach, Philip Snyman, has opted for four changes to the squad for next weekend's Hong Kong Sevens (5-7 April).

Christie Grobbelaar, Ronald Brown, Dewald Human and Quewin Nortje were all absent on the recent North American leg of the world series but are back in the mix.

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With the Blitzboks lying a lowly seventh on the world series standings, SA Rugby decided to elevate former assistant coach Snyman to the head coaching role. He takes over from Sandile Ngcobo, who has moved back to the role of "coach to the next generation of sevens players".

Grobbelaar picked up an injury in the season-opener in Dubai last year and has not featured since, while Human is also back for the first time this year after last playing in Cape Town in December. Brown and Nortje were injured in Perth and missed the trips to Canada and the USA.

Two members of the team that played in Los Angeles, David Brits and Rosko Specman, were ruled out after picking up injuries at training recently, while Tristan Leyds and James Murphy miss out on this leg of the world series.

The Blitzboks also have an engagement at the Singapore Sevens from 3-5 May, before concluding their 2023/24 series commitments in Madrid from 31 May - 2 June.

"We've decided to select the best possible squad with the most experience for this leg of the world series, but David and Rosko were not considered along with Siviwe Soyizwapi and Masande Mtshali, who are still busy with their recovery and not yet ready to play," Snyman said in a statement.

"It's great to welcome back Christie, Ronald, Dewald and Quewin though. They bring varying degrees of experience to the team, but all of