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Daily Maverick
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Maverick
Blitzboks seal World Championship win in Los Angeles after roller-coaster season
The Springbok Sevens hit their straps in LA this weekend, sealing an undefeated weekend with a 19-5 win over Spain to claim the World Championship. The Springboks Sevens side sealed a memorable World Championship win in Los Angeles this weekend after going through the previous two days undefeated before beating Spain 19-5 in the final. It was a cagey final with a big defensive performance required from the Blitzboks to overcome the Spanish outfit. Tries from Selvyn Davids, Mfundo Ndhlovu and Ricardo Duarttee were enough to down the uncompromising Spaniards. Despite the title of World Championship winners, Argentina are the SVNS World Series winners after finishing the regular season having won three of the six legs of the SVNS series and finishing on 104 overall points. The Springbok Sevens finished the World Series in fourth place — having only won the Cape Town leg, ending on 70 points. The top eight teams (out of 12) competed in the World Championship in Los Angeles, with the remaining four battling it out against Challenger series teams. It is the second year that this convoluted SVNS system has been in place, with more changes to the system announced for next season. South Africa headed to Los Angeles on the back of two ninth-place finishes, in Singapore and Hong Kong, but hit back in the most important tournament. South Africa's victories in LA included beating Olympic champions France, Great Britain and high-flying Argentina in the group phase before whalloping old-foes New Zealand 31-5 in the semi-finals. New Zealand beat Argentina 38-17 in the third-place playoff. If New Zealand had gone all the way and won the trophy in LA, they would have done so with a highest-place finish of fourth — in Dubai last year — across the World Series season. While the new format — which will be revamped again next season — gives everyone a fair shot at the World Championship title, it doesn't reward consistency throughout the season. Cagey affair South Africa were on the defence for much of the initial period of the final before captain Davids danced past two defenders before jinking past another, all inside the Blitzboks' 22m, to run through and score the first points of the final and the only try in the first half. Spain had the bulk of the possession, but South Africa's defence stood strong with Shilton van Wyk particularly impressive with several big tackles in succession. The Spanish eventually found their way over the tryline when speedster Pol Pla jetted down the right wing to increase his scoring record for Spain but the conversion from out wide was unsuccessful. The Blitzboks held a slender lead heading into the final three-and-a-half minutes. A trio of fresh legs took to the field right after for the Springbok Sevens. Tristan Leyds was one of them, who held on to a tricky hanging ball from Spain's restart. Zander Reynders, the other, slung a bounce pass to Ndhlovu, the third substitute, one phase later, before Ndhlovu dodged his way past two on rushing Spanish defenders and sprinted all the way to score South Africa's second try. Reynders saw yellow from the restart, taking out a Spanish player in the air from a well-weighted drop-kick to give the European outfit a sniff of a chance of victory in the final two minutes. Instead, despite playing with one man down, South Africa worked the short side for consecutive phases and eventually broke through with Leyds offloading to Duarttee, who came on as a late substitute, to go over for the team's third try. 'Completes the puzzle' This weekend was one of the few occasions this season where head coach Philip Snyman had access to his full compliment of star players, with no one missing through injury, rest or suspension. 'This team delivered an amazing performance over the weekend,' the coach said. 'The players deserve so much credit for the way they played here in Los Angeles. We had some good parts and some bad parts to our season, but this weekend we got it all together and that is a very satisfying feeling. 'Any coach will tell you that your plan can only be as good as the buy-in from the players, and then their execution thereof. This weekend it all came together.' Despite the up-and-down season, Snyman believes the performances in Los Angeles were a true reflection of the potential of his squad. 'This performance finally completes the puzzle for us, and what a beautiful picture we got,' he said. 'This was the true colours of Springbok Sevens, and I cannot be prouder of what it represented and displayed this weekend.' The Springbok Women's Sevens team, meanwhile, fell at the final hurdle in Los Angeles this week, losing 14-17 to Kenya in the play-off final for the second division of the World Series. South Africa scraped their way through every match this past weekend on their way to the final, only losing to China (26-12). This included a spirited fightback against Argentina in which they claimed a 17-14 win after a last-minute try by Leigh Fortuin. But Kenya were too strong for the Seven's Women's team in the final with South Africa finishing the match with a player down. DM
Eyewitness News
04-05-2025
- Sport
- Eyewitness News
Unbeaten Blitzboks book semi-final spot in LA
JOHANNESBURG – The Blitzboks qualified for the playoffs of the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles with victories over France, Great Britain and Argentina in pool A. In the semi-finals, they face New Zealand, who tied with Australia on seven points in Pool B but advanced due to superior points difference. READ: Blitzboks hope to finish season on a high note as they head to SVNS World Championship The Blitzboks' semi-final against New Zealand is at 22h46 (SA time) on Sunday evening, shortly after Spain and Argentina face off at 22h24 for a place in the final. Philip Snyman's charges kicked off the tournament at Dignity Health Sports Park with a 19-10 win against France, followed by wins against Great Britain (12-7) and SVNS league winners Argentina (29-21) on day 1 of the tournament. Scorers: South Africa 19 (7) France 10 (10)SA - Tries: Selwyn Davids, Shilton van Wyk, Zain Davids. Conversions: Ronald Brown, Ricardo Duarttee. France - Tries: Varian Pasquet, Simon Désert.
The Citizen
04-05-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
Unbeaten Blitzboks surge into semis
The Blitzboks will face New Zealand in the semis at 22:46 (SA time) on Sunday evening. The Blitzboks qualified for the semi-finals of the SVNS World Championship following a clean sweep of their Pool A rivals in Los Angeles. Philip Snyman's charges kicked off their campaign with a 19-10 win against France 19-10 on Saturday, before edging out Great Britain (12-7) and SVNS league winners Argentina (29-21) at Dignity Health Sports Park on day 1 of the tournament. They next face traditional foes New Zealand, who tied on seven points with Australia but advanced due to superior points difference. Kick-off is at 12am on Monday (SA time). After an impressive performance against France, the SA side were on the money again against Team GB, with two tries within the first five minutes putting them into the fast lane towards victory. First Ronald 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 try in sevens. 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 Desert to give them a 10-point lead. Great character to fight back The Blitzboks knuckled down and showed great 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. South Africa wrapped up the opening day with a five-tries-to-three win against the Argentines – Brown, Van Wyk, Ryan Oosthuizen, Selvyn Davids and Siviwe Soyizwapi crossing the whitewash for the men in green and gold. This story was first published on It is republished here with permission.
IOL News
04-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Unbeaten Blitzboks aim for victory against New Zealand in SVNS World Championship knockout
Speedster Shilton van Wyk dots down the winning try for the Blitzboks against Great Britain at the Los Angeles SVNS on Saturday. Image: Zach Franzen / World Rugby The Blitzboks will face arch-rivals New Zealand on Saturday evening for a place in the finals of the SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles after an undefeated group stage at the final tournament of the season. South Africa delivered near-perfect second-half performances against France and Argentina and a strong display on defence against Great Britain to secure their spot in the final four. However, improved plays, especially in the first half, will be needed if they want to bag the title later on Saturday evening and early Sunday morning should they make the finals. It's still a long wait until the semis at Dignity Health Sports Park against the Kiwis (10.46 pm start), but it will give the Blitzboks plenty of time to prepare for what could be one of their biggest knockout games of the year. They laid a good foundation for the duel by knocking over the Argentines 29-21 in a fighting display having to come back from being a score down right before halftime to grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half. Two quick-fire tries by the SVNS Series titleholders with Siviwe Soyiwazpi in the sin bin put the Blitzboks on the backfoot after playmaker Ronald Brown opened the scoring. Forward Ryan Oosthuizen's equalising converted score levelled things at the break which was exactly what the side needed. They came out firing with Soyizwapi, hotstepper Shilton van Wyk and Selvyn Davids claiming the tries that floored the Argentines and allowed for a comfortable 29-14 lead. A consolation try for Argentina at the end brought the result closer. The South Africans had a better start to the game against Great Britain – a team they always found tricky to beat. They got out to an early 12-0 start and had to defend as if their lives depended on it in the second half to claim a 12-7 victory eventually. In the opener against France, they quickly found themselves trailing 10-0 towards the end of the first half and it looked like they would have that old ailment of being slow out the blocks. But, a vital try on the stroke of halftime by captain Davids and further scores from Van Wyk and hard-working forward Zain Davids in the second stanza, secured the game to get the Blitzboks going.
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
