Jobb and Leyds back as Blitzboks face tough start in Vancouver

Sebastiaan Jobb will return to the HSBC Sevens after almost two years while Tristan Leyds is fit for more Blitzboks duty in 2025, after the duo were recalled for the fourth tournament of the series this weekend in Vancouver, Canada.

Blitzboks head coach Philip Snyman has included the two in his 13-man squad. Jobb replaces the injured Zain Davids and Leyds comes in as playmaker in place of Dewald Human from the squad that finished fourth in Perth in January.

Jobb made his debut in Hong Kong in 2023 and played in Singapore a week later in his only two tournaments to date, while Leyds starred for the Blitzboks in their tournament victory in Cape Town in December before sustaining a hand injury that ruled him out of the Perth tournament.

The Blitzboks won at BC Place in 2019 and 2021 and Snyman is confident his tweaks will deliver similar results.

“Tristan and Sebastiaan will add to the dynamics of the squad and I know they will be competitive in their pool matches against New Zealand, Ireland and Australia,” Snyman said.

“Sebastiaan’s inclusion is well deserved as he worked very hard over the past few months. He was already close to selection for the Olympic Games last year. He was unlucky with untimely injuries over the past few seasons but he is ready to play.”

Jobb, 25, played for the Junior Springboks and Bulls in the Currie Cup earlier in his career. Snyman said Jobb replacing Davids, a forward, points to a tactical change in their approach for the Canada event.

“We will play on an artificial pitch, where the game will be faster, and Sebastiaan’s pace will be a huge factor.”

The Blitzboks coach is excited about the energy and skill set that come with Leyds’ inclusion.

“He had two good outings in Dubai and Cape Town and slotted back in. Tristan comes in for Dewald Human, who has now played three tournaments on the trot and deserves a bit of a rest.”

Snyman said Human will have an important task back at Stellenbosch once the squad have departed for Canada on Saturday.

“We have a strong group of players that will be working hard back home to be in contention for the next trip to Hong Kong in March and Dewald has a big role in that regard, explaining our playbook to them.

“This group includes Tiaan Pretorius and Masande Mtshali, who are well on their way to full recovery from injury; and Mfundo Ndhlovu, Rowan Malgas and Gino Cupido in particular, who will play a role in the remainder of the series.”

The Blitzboks face New Zealand in their first pool match, before taking on Ireland and Australia, and Snyman said it is a tough start.

“We prefer it that way, as you need to be switched on from the start — the tougher the start, the better we do as we saw in Cape Town earlier in the series [where SA lifted the trophy].

“We have done analysis on all teams before the season started and will fine-tune our approach once we see what squads they selected, but the main focus will be on ourselves and how we want to play the game.”

Springbok Sevens squad for Vancouver

Ryan Oosthuizen, Impi Visser (co-capt), Ricardo Duarttee, Ronald Brown, Selvyn Davids (co-capt), Siviwe Soyizwapi, Shilton van Wyk, Quewin Nortjé, Donovan Don, Sebastiaan Jobb, David Brits, Zander Reynders, Tristan Leyds

Blitzboks’ pool B fixtures (SA times):

Friday: vs New Zealand (10.02pm)

Saturday: vs Ireland (3.29am); vs Australia (9.14am)

SA Rugby media