Blitzboks’ Specman seeks World Cup glory to add to Olympic bronze

At 35 years old, off the back of his second Olympic bronze medal with the Blitzboks in Paris, Rosko Specman could have been forgiven for hanging up his boots, but instead he turned his focus to a second Rugby World Cup Sevens medal in 2026.

Speaking to media upon arrival at Cape Town International Airport after South Africa won bronze at the Olympics Sevens tournament, with a 26-19 win over Australia, Specman said: “If I look back at my career, it’s really something to be proud of.

“I’m a double Springbok [capped in the 15-a-side game and Sevens], I’m now a double [Olympic] bronze medallist, I have [two] World Series [titles], I have one Sevens World Cup [bronze in 2018].

“I think the next one is another Sevens World Cup. I want to make everything double, double, double.”

Despite his age, Specman feels he is as quick as ever: “I don’t think I will slow down now. You can see the coach even has the ability to put me on the wing, where my role will be more in the playmaking.

“Sweeper, flyhalf – that’s where I feel more comfortable – but whenever this team wants me to play, if it’s maybe in the forwards or on the wing, I will do it for the team because I know once one guy fights for the team, the other 13 [in the squad] will also fight for you.”

The Blitzboks got their Olympic campaign in Paris off to a poor start with defeats to Ireland and New Zealand, but Specman – who was part of a more heavily fancied Blitzboks team that got bronze at Rio 2016 before going on to win back-to-back World Series titles – said the team never doubted they could turn their tournament around.

Ultimately, they did exactly that by beating Japan, winning a rematch against New Zealand, and then bouncing back from defeat to eventual winners France in the semi-finals with a win over Australia for third place.

Specman said: “We knew already when we came together in the circle, in the huddle. The belief in the coach’s eyes just showed everything. We have been through tough times; we have learned all our lessons and unfortunately, we didn’t go all the way, but we’re still proud of this medal. It means a lot to our country because we know they support us no matter what.”

The Blitzboks have fallen a long way since their heyday under Neil Powell, but Specman has credited current head coach Philip Snyman, a former teammate of his under Powell, for leading a revival with a smile on his face.

He said of his friend slash coach: “The smile is still the same; he’s just giving orders now but the coach is still the same. It’s nice to know that one of your team members is coaching you now and he knows what is [driving] you and he knows how to get the guys in a good space. It means that there’s trust and belief.

“Like the coach was saying: We can take this as the beginning of a season. It just showed where we can get better and from here, we can just build on it coming into the next season because we will just have a month off and then we will prepare for Dubai again, so it’s a quick turnaround and it’s now time to relax and spend time with our families.”