Latest news with #RonaldBrown
eNCA
05-05-2025
- Sport
- eNCA
Springbok Sevens win World Championships in LA
LOS ANGELES - South Africa's men and New Zealand's women captured the Rugby Sevens World Championship 2025 titles on Sunday in Los Angeles. The Springbok Sevens defeated Spain 19-5 in the men's final. Selvyn Davids scored a try in the fifth minute and Ronald Brown converted to lift South Africa ahead 7-0 at half-time. Spain's Pol Pla answered with a try in the 10th minute but Juan Ramos missed the conversion kick to keep the Springboks ahead. Mfundo Ndhlovu answered with a try for South Africa and Tristan Leyds converted for a 14-5 lead.
TimesLIVE
04-05-2025
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Blitzboks win three from three to book semifinal spot in LA
The Springbok Sevens team qualified for the playoffs of the HSBC Sevens World Championship in Los Angeles with victories over France, Great Britain and Argentina in their pool and will face New Zealand in the semifinals on Sunday. South Africa won 19-10 against France, edged out Great Britain 12-7 and scored five tries against Argentina in a 29-21 victory on the first day of action at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles. Against Argentina, Ronald Brown struck first for a 7-0 scoreline, but two quick tries by the Pumas pushed them into the lead. Ryan Oosthuizen scored to level matters at the break, with Ricardo Duarttee converting both tries. Three unanswered tries by the Blitzboks gave them an impressive 29-14 lead before a late try by Argentina saved them some blushes. The South Americans will face Spain in the other semifinal. The individual brilliance from Ronald Brown 😮💨🤌 #HSBCSVNSLAX | #HSBCSVNS — SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) May 3, 2025 After an impressive performance against France, South Africa were on the money again against Great Britain, with two tries within the first five minutes putting them into the fast lane towards victory. First, Brown kicked ahead in the opening minute of play, regathered and scored for a 7-0 lead before Shilton van Wyk chased down his own kick as well to score his 50th Sevens Series try. Leading 12-0, the Blitzboks were in cruise control, but then stepped off the gas, allowing their opponents to claw their way back into the match. Freddie Roddick scored on the buzzer for a converted try, giving the UK side something of a sniff in the second half. The second half remained scoreless, but went from one side to the other as both sides had their moments, but could not convert. Some good scrambling defence by the Blitzboks proved vital as they held out their opponents to secure their second win of the day. In the first match, the French started very well and pressured the Blitzboks into mistakes, which led to two unanswered tries — by Varian Pasquet and Simon Désert — to give them a 10-point lead. The quick transitions from the @Blitzboks 😮💨🇿🇦 Zain Davids makes an immediate impact off the bench 🔥 📺 Stream #HSBCSVNSLAX on DStv: — SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) May 3, 2025 The Blitzboks knuckled down and showed character to fight back after going down 10-0 late in the first half. Selvyn Davids' late try before the break, from a great grubber into space, meant the teams swapped sides with France leading by 10-7. The second half belonged to the Blitzboks, who held onto possession much better as they worked to find space, with Shilton van Wyk and Zain Davids adding their names to the score sheet. Van Wyk circled the French defence on the right wing before Zain Davids ran the perfect angle onto a short pass into space by Ricardo Duarttee to give the Blitzboks a nine-point lead. France lost a player to the sin bin and the game finished as the South Africans showed some real grit on defence to deny their opponents a losing bonus-point. The Blitzboks' semifinal against New Zealand is at 10.46pm on Sunday night (SA time), shortly after Spain and Argentina face off (10.24pm). Scorers South Africa 19 (7) — Tries: Selwyn Davids, Shilton van Wyk, Zain Davids. Conversions: Ronald Brown, Ricardo Duarttee. France 10 (10) — Tries: Varian Pasquet, Simon Désert. South Africa 12 (12) — Tries: Ronald Brown, Shilton van Wyk. Conversion: Brown. Great Britain 7 (7) — Try: Freddie Roddick. Conversion: Matt Davidson.
Daily Maverick
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Maverick
Blitzboks aim to finish the season with World Championship trophy in hand
The Blitzboks will fancy their chances of a World Championship win in Los Angeles this weekend. The Springbok Sevens have been grouped alongside overall series winners Argentina, who won three out of six series legs, 2024 Paris Olympic Games champions France as well as Great Britain. Two out of three victories should be enough to see the side reach the semi-finals of the World Championship where they will face off against one of Fiji, Spain, Australia or New Zealand, who will be battling it out in the other group. South Africa will back their chances to overcome France, who have only reached the final four of a SVNS leg on two occasions this season, as well as Great Britain, who snuck into the top eight despite a best finish of fifth across the six legs. The Blitzboks though, like France, have struggled for consistency. They've reached two finals – winning one, in Cape Town – but have also finished ninth on two occasions. 'We can look back at the regular series where we had a mixed bag of results, but this effort here in Los Angeles will define the season,' said Springbok Sevens head coach Philip Snyman. 'We have won and lost against all three during the season, so it will come down to the effort of that match. There are no easy games, and a clinical execution will be the difference. 'There were brilliant moments, average moments and some poor moments, but we are looking towards this weekend, not behind us. We had our review of the series and know what we were good at, or not. 'Our fourth place in the series was an improvement from the previous year, but we want to be remembered for more than that.' 'New energy' The Blitzboks tailed off toward the back end of the World Series with consecutive ninth-placed finishes in Hong Kong and Singapore in the final two legs. It means that the Springbok Sevens' cumulative 70 points, gained from the six SVNS legs this season, is closer to New Zealand (56) in seventh place — who failed to finish above fourth in any leg — than Spain (88) in third. Fortunately for the Blitzboks, France in fifth overall finished last in Singapore, and Australia, who are sixth, limped to 10th in the Asian city, so they were not overtaken. For the Blitzboks, their ambitions of a World Championship title have been improved by the return of trio Ronald Brown, Mfundo Ndhlovu and Quewin Nortje — the latter is the leading try scorer for the team this season. 'We needed some new energy, given the short turnaround from Singapore, where we did not deliver,' Snyman said. 'I am happy to say we got that from them. Overall, it will be a weekend of enjoyment, effort and energy, and each of those players are able to provide that. We are in a good space.' Bok Sevens Women The Springbok Sevens Women, meanwhile, have been forced to shift their goals at the last minute because of the recently revamped SVNS model next year. The team arrived in America with the ambition of making it on to next year's SVNS World Series as one of the core 12 teams, but because of the 'evolved SVNS model' announced by World Rugby — two days before the start of the LA SVNS — the Bok Sevens Women will a gun for a spot in the second tier of the series. 'It does change the temperature in the room as there is funding from World Rugby involved, and if we don't get into the tier two, that might be at risk,' said head coach Renfred Dazel. 'Having said that, we came here with clear objectives on how to perform on the field, and that has not changed. We came here to win the play-off tournament, and that mission remains. If we manage that, it will be tier two, but that is next season's planning.' The nation Sevens ladies will be up against World Series regulars Ireland in their first clash of the weekend, and will then face China and Argentina. DM
