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The South African
05-05-2025
- Sport
- The South African
Brilliant Blitzboks crowned world champions!
The Blitzboks saved their best for last to win the final tournament of the season, the World Championship in Los Angeles, with a 19-5 victory over Spain in the final. The result, saw the Blitzboks wrapping up a flawless weekend in California, where they beat France 19-10, Great British 12-7 and Argentina 29-21 in the pool-phase of the tournament on day of action at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles. Those victories set them up for a blue-ribbon semi-final against New Zealand and the South African did not disappoint when the time came for this fixture on Sunday night. The Blitzboks ran in four tries (two each by Shilton van Wyk and Quewin Nortje) to obliterate the Kiwis 26-5 to storm into the gold medal match against Spain. And in that final, the Blitzboks were determined on defence and clinical on attack against a plucky Spain to win their second title of the 2025 season, after raising the trophy in Cape Town in December 2024. They managed to keep Spain away from their tryline with solid defence and when in possession, struck when it mattered, and even managed to score when down to six men following a late yellow card to Zander Reynders. Selvyn Davids, Mfundo Ndhlovu, Ricardo Duarttee were the Blitzboks' try-scorers in the title-decider, with Davids ultimately named Player of the Final. The performance in the final wrapped up a magnificent effort at the tournament, where the Blitzboks had no peers and hard as Spain tried, they had no answers to unlock the determination of their opponents to not let them get past them. Semi-final: South Africa vs New Zealand Blitzboks (26) – Tries: Shilton van Wyk (2), Quewin Nortje (2). Conversions: Ronald Brown (3). New Zealand (5) – Try: Frank Vaenuku. Final: South Africa vs Spain Blitzboks (19) – Tries: Selvyn Davids, Mfundo Ndhlovu, Ricardo Duarttee. Conversions: Ronald Brown, Tristan Leyds. Spain (5) – Try: Pol Pla. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The South African
04-05-2025
- Sport
- The South African
Blitzboks to face All Blacks in Los Angeles Sevens semi-finals: Here's WHEN
The Springbok Sevens team qualified for the playoffs of the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles with victories over France, Great Britain and Argentina in their pool and will face New Zealand in the semi-finals on Sunday. South Africa won 19-10 against France, edged out the British team 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 semi-final. 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 HSBC SVNS 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 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. The Blitzboks' semi-final against New Zealand is at 22:46 (SA time) on Sunday evening, shortly after Spain and Argentina face off at at 22:24 for a place in the final. 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 South Africa 12 (12), Great Britain 7 (7) SA – Tries: Ronald Brown, Shilton van Wyk. Conversion: Brown Great Britain – Try: Freddie Roddick. Conversion: Matt Davidson South Africa 29 (14), Argentina 21 (14) SA – Tries: Ronald Brown, Ryan Oosthuizen, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Shilton van Wyk, Selvyn Ricardo Duarttee (2) Argentina – Tries: Matteo Graziano, German Schulz, Santino Zangara. Conversions: Santiago Vera Feld (3) Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
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.
