What time do the Blitzboks play at the Olympics on Wednesday?
The Blitzboks will begin their Olympics campaign on Wednesday night. Here are the times when they will be in action.
The Springbok Sevens team will start their third charge for Olympic gold on Wednesday, with the Blitzboks set to face Ireland and New Zealand on the opening day of the competition at Stade de France.
The Blitzboks will be the first South Africans in action at the Paris Games, and here are the kick-off times that are not to be missed.
Blitzboks’ pool schedule at the Olympics (SA times, all matches on SuperSport):
Wednesday 24 July:
17h30: Ireland
21h30: New Zealand
Thursday 25 July
16h00: Japan
Squad for the 2024 Games:
1) Christie Grobbelaar
2) Ryan Oosthuizen
3) Impi Visser *
4) Zain Davids *
5) Quewin Nortje
6) Tiaan Pretorius
7) Shaun Williams
8) Selvyn Davids * (captain)
9) Tristan Leyds
10) Rosko Specman **
11) Siviwe Soyizwapi *
12) Shilton van Wyk
13) Ronald Brown * (travelling reserve)
14) Katlego Letebele (travelling reserve)
* indicates Tokyo 2021
** indicates Rio 2016
Blitzboks coach Philip Snyman – a bronze medalist from the 2016 Olympics in Rio – said they have done everything possible to be at their competitive best this week.
“We are ready,” said Snyman. “We had a good week of preparation since we arrived here, which included a good training session against Uruguay two days ago. That helped us a lot, as a match is always better than just training as a squad.
“We saw different pictures on attack and defence and had to adapt accordingly. It was a well worth exercise and sharpened us up nicely for the matches against Ireland and New Zealand.
“For us, it will just be another opportunity to represent our country and to deliver our best effort for the jersey,” he added. “Yes, the reward might be different, but the game remains the same and that is where our focus will be tomorrow.
“Both Ireland and New Zealand are the same in style and approach. They are bigger than us and more physical and will attack our breakdown in order to slow us down. We have real magic and speed on the outside and teams will try and prevent us to use that.”
Snyman said their defensive effort will be crucial if they want to start on a positive note.
“Ireland is our main focus for now, we want to start well and lay a foundation for the rest of the tournament,” said Snyman.
“We need to make our tackles and put pressure on their attackers. They are a dangerous side when they have momentum, so we need to stop them for getting going.”
