Cape Town - While new Blitzboks coach Sandile Ngcobo does not want to compare himself to previous mentors, he feels that he “learnt a lot” from Neil Powell and wants to build on that legacy instead of starting on a new path.
Former player Ngcobo – whose career was cut short by injuries – was appointed by SA Rugby yesterday as the replacement for Powell, who is now the director of rugby at the Sharks, following the end of the Rugby World Cup Sevens last weekend.
Ex-captain Philip Snyman was brought in as the new assistant coach to Ngcobo. Former assistant Renfred Dazel will be redeployed in a new role in the sevens set-up.
Powell achieved some great success during his 15-year association with the Springbok Sevens outfit, including an Olympic bronze medal, World Series and Commonwealth Games titles.
The 33-year-old Ngcobo will have a tough task in building on that foundation, but will be immediately tasked in bringing through a few new faces from the SA Rugby Sevens Academy, where he was the head coach until his promotion to the Blitzboks job.
The likes of Muller du Plessis (Sharks), Angelo Davids (Stormers), JC Pretorius (Lions) and Sako Makata (Griquas) are moving to the 15-man code.
“As a coach, you don’t want to compare yourself to other coaches. You want to make sure that you – as an Academy coach – scout the right people, the right individual, and make sure that they are ready to make the next step up when the head coach calls upon them,” Ngcobo said at a press conference at a Cape Town hotel yesterday.
“As an Academy, I had to make sure that there was a standard in identifying the right individuals, and with the standard that they are coached, that they are ready for the step up.
“People who trust us – Mark Alexander from Saru (president) and Marius Schoeman (SA Rugby Sevens high performance manager) – they know that it was the right time, based on the results from the Academy system.”
And following the disappointment of losing in the quarter-finals at last weekend’s World Cup, the Blitzboks are already back on the pitch ahead of the new World Series season that kicks off in Hong Kong from November 4-6.
“Well, we trained this morning, so I said ‘Welcome back to work!’. That’s the first thing I said. So, we are back to work and back at it,” Ngcobo said.
“The cornerstone is our Academy, so we need to look after them while the seniors are resting. They are excited and the guys are hungry, and we want to get the whole squad hungry again.
“There are certainly mixed emotions, because of the roller-coaster this week, but there is certainly some sort of excitement to what lies ahead.
“This game of sevens is actually very beautiful, because it just keeps evolving every week. We are learning as time goes by. We learnt a couple of things this weekend, but we are not going to change much. We don’t need to stamp our authority when there is a system in place, and a culture in place.
“As the game evolves, we’ll tweak a few things. But there are just certain processes that we have and will continue.”
SA Rugby president Mark Alexander expressed his happiness with Ngcobo’s appointment, as he became the first black African Blitzboks head coach.
“We are a non-racial organisation. I don’t look at people’s colour – I look at the quality of the man,” Alexander told Independent Media yesterday.
“But he comes through a system. He was a good player who unfortunately got injured, and then he was the assistant coach at the academy, and then head coach of the academy.
“He’s got to know how to deliver at the highest level, and he’s got Philip with him, who was also a great captain, who did some wonderful work with Uganda, who qualified for the Commonwealth Games – and Germany, who played at the World Cup.
“We’ve got a good group of coaching staff to take the team forward. We have a particular system we play – like the Springboks have – and they will stick to the system.
“We will give them all the necessary support to succeed.”