Head coach Sandile Ngcobo will not travel with the Blitzboks to Dubai for the SVNS opener due to medical reasons, with assistant Philip Snyman taking over the reins.

Ngcobo injured his Achilles in training last week and needed surgery. While the procedure was successful, he decided to remain in South Africa after a follow-up meeting with the surgeon yesterday.

Snyman will be assisted by SA Rugby’s sevens high-performance manager Marius Schoeman. Ngcobo will be back at the helm for the Cape Town leg of the series, which is set to kick off on December 9-10.

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“He will get good support from the senior players in the squad and with Marius also travelling to Dubai, Philip will also have back-up in the coaching department. I will follow the matches closely and provide post-match support to the coaches.

“My main aim now is to use the time to recover well and be ready for what promises to be a very exciting home tournament in Cape Town in two weeks’ time.”

The squad travelling to Dubai will be announced by Ngcobo tomorrow.