EVEN at the age of 34, Rosko Specman doesn’t like missing any tournaments for the Blitzboks.
Having returned to sevens this season after a few years in the 15-man code – where he earned a Springbok Test cap against Georgia in 2021 – Specman was in the thick of the action as the SA Sevens team won the Dubai tournament, while he was also part of the squad that had a forgettable weekend at the Cape Town event.
He was then left out of the group for the Perth Sevens, where they finished fifth, but has been recalled for this weekend’s Canada Sevens in Vancouver.
“The coaches told me that I will be rested, and I understood their reasons, but it still hurt,” Specman, who most recently played provincial rugby for Griquas, said from Canada.
“It is always a 50/50... You want to be playing every minute of every match, but the knees tell a different story.
“The upside of me resting was spending time with my wife and family, and the fact that I could do some good recovery and fitness work in.
“The flip side is that you are sitting far away from the action and can’t do anything to contribute on the field. I am now playing every tournament as if that will be my last for my country and this beloved Blitzboks team, because in reality, it could be.
“At my age, you must enjoy every moment and make it count, in order not to feel sorry afterwards.
“We’ve had an up and down season so far. When we enjoyed it and made it count, like in the tournament opener in Dubai, we were victorious. But in Cape Town and Perth, we did not get the results we had hoped for.”
The Blitzboks will hope to regain that enjoyment factor at BC Place in Vancouver, with coach Sandile Ngcobo naming a strong squad that includes Specman, Impi Visser, Shaun Williams, Justin Geduld and Darren Adonis as new faces compared to the Perth squad.
Captain Selvyn Davids will hope that the South Africans can fire from the very start, as they kick off their Pool A fixtures against New Zealand on Friday night (11.52pm SA time), followed by Great Britain (4.56am) and Ireland (11.05pm) on Saturday.
The Springbok Sevens are currently fourth on the World Sevens Series log with 42 points, behind Argentina (58), Fiji and Australia (both 44).
The Blitzboks have an excellent record at the Canada Sevens, with three titles since the tournament’s inception in 2016, as well as two runners-up finishes.
But their last victory came in 2021 at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, with Argentina grabbing the last two trophies at BC Place in Vancouver.
They will hope to go further than Perth, where they lost 14-12 to Fiji in the quarter-finals.
“We played well in that game and could just as well have won it, but we lost concentration when it mattered,” Specman said.
“The margins on the circuit this season are very small, and even the smallest mistake can be punished and cost you the game.
“Coach Sandile (Ngcobo) and (assistant) coach Philip (Snyman) have a game-plan worked out for every opponent, and if we follow that through, the results will come.
“We saw that in Dubai, and I believe we can replicate that result here in Canada. We have a very experienced core of players, and we should be able to execute on the day.
“Our game-plan will create space. Everyone must just understand that the ball will create the space, not the man, and if we follow that, there will be smiles all around at the end of the tournament.”