Former sevens player, and current head coach of the SA Sevens Academy team, Sandile Ngcobo is reportedly the front-runner to succeed Neil Powell as Blitzboks head coach.
Powell, who has been in charge of the Blitzboks since 2013, will vacate his role after the Sevens World Cup in Cape Town in September to join the Sharks as defence coach.
According to Sunday newspaper Rapport, Ngcobo, a former Blitzbok who won world titles in 2017 and 2018, is the favourite to be appointed as Powell’s successor.
Ngcobo, nicknamed “Stix” by his teammates, played provincial rugby for the Lions at U13, U16 and U18 level before representing them at Under-21 level.
A former scrumhalf who played alongside Elton Jantjies and Dimitri Catrakilis at the Lions Academy, Ngcobo gave up playing at 22-years-old as, at the time, he had fallen out of love with the game. He found himself a job working with a courier company at OR Tambo International Airport.
A year after retiring, he started playing club rugby for Wits, then coached by Martin Scheepers, who had previously coached Ngcobo at U13 level.
Ngcobo then signed for the Valke, starring in the 2012 Currie Cup campaign as a wing, when he was spotted by Powell and sevens high-performance manager Marius Schoeman, who drafted him into the newly established sevens academy.
After his playing career with the Blitzboks was cut short by thigh muscle injuries, Ngcobo was appointed as a strength and conditioning coach at the academy. He then replaced Schoeman as academy head coach when the latter moved into a permanent role as high-performance manager.
Photo: Renee McKay/Gallo Images
