– Cape Town After a highly successful junior career, Sandile Ngcobo, at the age of 22, quit rugby and began working for a courier firm at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.
11 years and 33 years later, he is the new head coach of the Springbok Sevens squad, succeeding Neil Powell, who spent over 15 years with the Blitzboks as a player and coach.
“I’m incredibly enthusiastic. It’s a mixed bag of emotions… from Coach Neil leaving us to the fantastic news that we will now carry on his legacy and foundation. Following his appointment last week, Ngcobo told Independent Media that he was “very excited” about it.
“You aim to be the finest in the world, and my personality is to constantly strive for greatness. Therefore, I’m in a position to offer myself the greatest possible chance because I’ve been groomed, educated, and worked hard day in and day out.
While attending Highlands North Boys’ High School in Johannesburg, Ngcobo played scrum-half for the junior provincial Lions with fly-halves like as Elton Jantjies and Demetri Catrakilis for the Golden Lions Academy.
This earned him a rugby bursary from the University of Johannesburg and a contract with the Lions, but he chose to stop playing shortly thereafter, telling the SA Rugby website that the sport “gave me no joy” at the time.
A few years later, Ngcobo was contacted once more by the oval-ball game. Martin Scheepers, his previous junior coach, invited him to attend trials for the University of the Witwatersrand’s first team, and he soon performed well enough to secure a seat on the squad.
The remainder is history. Before Powell welcomed him into the SA Rugby Sevens Academy, Ngcobo played over 30 matches for the Valke provincial squad.
Ngcobo made his debut with the Blitzboks in 2016, and subsequently moved into coaching with the academy, first as an assistant coach and then as the head coach.
So he feels prepared to succeed Powell, with former captain Philip Snyman serving as his assistant coach.
The recent Blitzboks performance at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town, when South Africa was eliminated by Ireland in the quarterfinals, was not the perfect way for Powell to leave the sevens scene and join the Sharks as their director of rugby.
Ngcobo will not reinvent the Blitzbok wheel, but he will have the opportunity to leave his mark on the squad.
“I would not say otherwise… We would recruit personnel who would add a bit more diversity, but our defensive strategies were the most effective. We sought to address it at a higher level,” Ngcobo explained.
“Therefore, if we’re to do anything, it’s to build off the solid foundation Coach Neil and his staff established, and bring in new personalities so that we can’t be predicted. All of this boils down to an excellent academy system. Scouting by Marius Schoeman and molding there would provide us with additional weapons to use against opponents.
“To be honest with you, I haven’t watched those (World Cup) games yet — I’ll sit down and watch it intently. Throughout the entire season, though, we were plagued by injuries and had a limited selection pool.
“I will continue to stress the importance of scouting the appropriate youngsters and holding academy competitions so that the senior squad can perform consistently – by having the proper players.
If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be consistency in performance and having the proper people for the task.
This includes attempting to recruit players from United Rugby Championship franchises and the academy conveyor belt.
Prior to the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the Blitzboks must discover physical forwards to aid the likes of Zain Davids and Impi Visser in addition to having playmakers like as Selvyn Davids and Ronald Brown.
Ngcobo’s first significant competition will be the Hong Kong Sevens in early November.
“This is something we frequently discuss. The Blitzboks coach stated, “I scout with SA Sevens high-performance manager Marius Schoeman, and it’s simply a matter of mending and shaping those ties with the 15s players.”
“We do not wish to imply that our system is the only system capable of tremendous accomplishments. We can gain insight from 15s teams. They contain players who can also perform for us. Consequently, a strong relationship with the unions can help the system to greater heights.
“That is the beauty of this game — it changes every week… there is always something fresh. It keeps you on your toes, as you must continually think of new methods and get the best performance out your players.
“One of the things we will introduce is simply new weaponry… a variety that offers variety and a new strategy.”
“I have considered” (the Paris Olympics). But we do not wish to gaze too far ahead. There are matters that require our immediate attention and discussion. And this involves carrying out our tasks and responsibilities.
“First, restore the appetite. Add a few essential persons to our group and initiate the implementation of our methods. I believe that will put us in a position to add a new and more ambitious objective.
“If we have games next week, our objective is to incorporate the right plan and processes into our system and continue to build towards Hong Kong (in November)”
@AshfakMohamed