Fire and ice Ngcobo and Snyman could make Blizboks great again: Brown

Former Springbok Sevens captain Kyle Brown believes the side has the potential to dominate the HSBC World Sevens Series. However, it being a largely inexperienced group with a raft of senior players having left the system, he has also called for a dose of realism from local supporters.

Before the Hamilton, New Zealand, leg of the HSBC Sevens on Saturday and Sunday, Sandile Ngcobo’s men are joint leaders with 47 points after three events. After a baptism of fire in the first leg in Hong Kong, the Blitzboks defied the odds and won in Dubai — only to come crashing down to earth in their home event. With defeat to Samoa in the semifinals, the Cape Town curse was extended to seven years for the men in green, having last won their home tournament when Brown, who played 69 tournaments and 347 matches, was still in his boots.

“It’s almost as if the Blitzboks did themselves a disservice by winning Dubai because I didn’t expect them to do so well so early,” Brown, formerly director of professional players' organisation MyPlayers for six years, told TimesLIVE Premium from his base in Stellenbosch. “With youth comes inexperience and with inexperience comes inconsistency in performance.”

Brown, who works for a corporate insurance brokerage after calling time on a decorated 11-year professional playing career in 2019, is optimistic the combination of “Stix” Ngcobo as coach and Siviwe “Shakes” Soyizwapi as captain will become a formidable force. Ngcobo, with Philip Snyman as his assistant, took over from Neil Powell who, after a hugely successful decade as Blitzboks coach, is now in charge of the Sharks. Soyizwapi is the most experienced incumbent Blitzbok, having debuted in 2016.

“As ex-teammates [for the Blitzboks] the off-field relationship is there between Stix and Shakes,” Brown said. “The pair have had a fairly gentle ride so far and hopefully their underlying friendship is what can keep it together.

“When the Blitzboks put it together they are borderline unstoppable, but I expect there to be challenges and dips along the way this year because this is a young team with a heck of a lot to learn. Composing yourself, resetting and going again can often be difficult with inexperience.”

Brown, who led the Blitzboks to the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games by beating New Zealand in the final, sees Impi Visser as a calm head who can assist in leading the team, but in the same breath says Visser needs to focus on his own performances to entrench his position in the side.

Brown says you cannot match Ngcobo for energy and intensity. The Blitzboks head coach recently received a glowing endorsement from SA Rugby director of rugby Rassie Erasmus, who said he believes Ngcobo is “going to take Springbok Sevens rugby to the next level”. Brown says like most young coaches stepping into the international arena — Ngcobo is just 33 — he will have to learn the technical aspects on the job as quickly as possible, but energy, enthusiasm and intensity go a long way in the meantime.

Ngcobo's motives and intentions are very good and when you don’t meet his energy and intensity it’s very frustrating for him

—  Kyle Brown

“It’s a phenomenal starting point for Sandile and he has a desire to be successful. In Sevens there are always shots you take along the way, but Stix is the kind of guy who bounces back to fight the next fight. The combination of him and Philip Snyman is very much yin and yang and, for me, Sandile is the fire and Philip the ice.”

As a former national teammate, Brown reveals he has seen Ngcobo, who was still playing for the SA Sevens side in 2018 before successfully heading the SA Rugby Sevens Academy, lose his cool, which comes with the territory as an energetic and passionate individual.

“His motives and intentions are very good and when you don’t meet his energy and intensity it’s very frustrating for him.”

Brown sees Ngcobo maturing and learning that players treat situations differently so can’t all be painted with the same brush. Brown, who worked with Powell throughout his six-year Blitzbok captaincy, believes the partnership was so successful because the coach identified with the players on a human level as an excellent man-manager.

In recent times there has been a high turnover of Blitzboks to the 15-man game. Brown believes money, followed by a guarantee of game time, will always be a driver to encourage players to focus on Sevens. “As a player you go where the money takes you because you know your career is limited and your stock value decreases every time you’re not on-field.”

As the season reaches its midway mark, Brown believes the Blitzboks’ Antipodean tour could be the make or break for their ultimate outcome.

“It’s quite a pivotal time and you don’t want to play catchup. In Australasia, two top four finishes is what I would be aiming for as this young Blitzboks team. I think it’s pretty realistic because they have the energy and talent, but consistency is the ultimately key.”