Blitzboks won’t rest on their laurels in Europe

The joy of the HSBC SVNS Cape Town crowd — when the Blitzboks won a consecutive home tournament in December last year — was shared by Sebastiaan Jobb, and at that moment, the wing made a promise to himself to be part of the next trophy lift.

Five months later, Jobb has now shared that special moment with his teammates in Perth, Vancouver and New York, where the Blitzboks were crowned series champions.

And when the SVNS World Championship kicked off in Hong Kong, Jobb was again part of the squad that made history by becoming the first from South Africa to be crowned champions in the Far Eastern city, with Jobb scoring tries and making crucial turnovers in all those tense finals.

Four in a row after sitting out for so long is not enough, and he wants more, Jobb said with a broad smile as the Blitzboks finished another gruelling session at their Stellenbosch base.

This time, they are preparing for the final two legs of the World Championship to be played in Valladolid, Spain (May 29-31), and Bordeaux, France (June 5-7), and the Kakamas-born speedster is adamant that if he can have it his way, more is to come.

“I was sitting in the Cape Town crowd, and as happy I was for the guys, so determined was I to make sure I am on the field when we play again,” said Jobb, who turns 27 on Wednesday.

“I did well in pre-season, but was not selected for the Dubai and Cape Town legs, which hurt, to be honest. But I looked at myself, rather than blaming others, and decided to work even harder.”

When Blitzbok coach Philip Snyman announced his first squad in 2026, Jobb was named to travel to Singapore and Perth.

He doesn’t have many happy memories from the Singapore tournament, but mentally Jobb could put a red card for a high tackle during his previous visit to the National Stadium behind him.

Jobb made his debut during the Hong Kong and Singapore leg in 2023, a season when the Blitzboks struggled. In 2024, he was injured at crucial times, but last season, the breaks (and some misfortune) came.

“I was selected to go to Vancouver and got a red card, and when I got my next opportunity, in Singapore in 2025, I was red-carded again and that almost broke me, to be honest,” said Jobb, who only had four tournaments in three seasons to show at that stage of his career.

Last season finished on a high for the Blitzboks when they won the inaugural World Championship in Los Angeles, and when Snyman named a group of fringe players to play in the Africa Cup in Mauritius last year, Jobb sent a strong reminder that he is still around with a good display of his abilities.

Singapore 2026 was soul-cleansing for Jobb as he delivered a strong performance, and in Perth a week later, a decisive performance against Fiji in the final rewarded his commitment made in the DHL Stadium in December: he was finally part of the trophy lift. That continued in Vancouver, New York and Hong Kong.

“The players are really working hard for each other; our training sessions are intense and full of detail, and I am happy to be part of that,” said Jobb.

“Playing wing in sevens does not mean you can just stand on the outside and wait for someone to pass you the ball; you have to have an all-round game on attack and defence.”

Snyman will announce his travelling squad to Spain and France later in the week, so Jobb is not taking anything for granted in a season that delivered much.

“Of course I want to be in the squad, as we are not yet done for the season. We have done well, but we can still do better, and that is why we are working hard in training. It is a great environment, and to be part of this is what I hoped for.” — SA Rugby Communications