South Africa national rugby sevens team

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This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see South Africa women's national rugby sevens team.
South Africa
Nickname(s)Blitzboks, Blitzbokke
EmblemSpringbok
UnionSouth African Rugby Union
Head coachNeil Powell
CaptainPhilip Snyman
Top scorerCecil Afrika (1,430)
Top try scorerSeabelo Senatla (224)
First colours
Second colours
Rugby World Cup Sevens
Appearances6 (First in 1993)
Best resultRunner-up (1997)

The South African national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games.

History[]

After readmission to international sport following the ending of the apartheid ban, the team played their first sevens series in the 1993 Hong Kong Sevens,[citation needed] and also participated in the 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens. They also played in the Hong Kong Sevens for the next two seasons. In 1996, they also took part in the Punta Del Este Sevens in Uruguay and the Dubai Sevens.

They participated in the 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens the following year and in 1998, they played three South American tournaments – the Mar Del Plata Sevens in Argentina, the Punta Del Este Sevens and the Viña del Mar Sevens in Chile. 1999 saw them participate in the Mar Del Plata Sevens, the Santiago Sevens in Chile, the Fiji Sevens, the Hong Kong Sevens, the Japan Sevens and the Paris Sevens.

At the end of 1999, the first World Rugby Sevens Series (then the IRB Sevens World Series) started and the team have been participating in that series ever since. In addition to the Sevens Series, they also played in the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Commonwealth Games, the World Games and, from 2016 onwards, the Olympic Games.

The team's nickname, "Blitzboks", is derived from "blitz" an Afrikaans word meaning lightning, and the derivative of Springbok ("Bok"), the official emblem of the South African rugby team.

Tournament history[]

Summer Olympics[]

Olympic Games record
Year Round Position Pld W L D
Brazil 2016 Bronze medal match 3rd 6 4 2 0
Total 0 Titles 1/1 6 4 2 0

Rugby World Cup Sevens[]

World Cup Sevens record
Year Round Position Played Won Lost Drew
Scotland 1993 Quarterfinalists 5th 8 6 2 0
Hong Kong 1997 Finalists 2nd 7 6 1 0
Argentina 2001 Quarterfinalists 5th 6 5 1 0
Hong Kong 2005 Quarterfinalists 5th 6 4 2 0
United Arab Emirates 2009 Quarterfinalists 5th 4 3 1 0
Russia 2013 Quarterfinalists 5th 4 3 1 0
United States 2018 Semifinalists 3rd 4 3 1 0
South Africa Qualified as host
Total 0 Titles 8/8 39 30 9 0

Commonwealth Games[]

Commonwealth Games record
Year Round Position Pld W L D
Malaysia 1998 Quarterfinalists 5th 5 4 1 0
England 2002 Semifinalists 3rd 6 5 1 0
Australia 2006 Plate Finalists 6th 6 3 3 0
India 2010 Semifinalists 3rd 6 5 1 0
Scotland 2014 Champions 1st 6 6 0 0
Australia 2018 Semifinalists 4th 5 3 2 0
Total 1 Title 34 26 8 0

World Games[]

Tournament Placing
2005 Duisburg 2nd (Silver)
2009 Kaohsiung[1] 3rd (Bronze)
2013 Cali[2] 1st (Gold)

World Rugby Sevens Series[]

Main article: South Africa at the World Rugby Sevens Series

Series wins[]

South Africa won the following editions on the Sevens World Series since its inception in 1999–2000:

World Series wins
Season Points Runner-up Tournament wins
2008–09 132 Fiji (102) 3
2016–17 192 England (164) 5
2017–18 182 Fiji (180) 2

Series tournament wins[]

South Africa won the following tournaments on the Sevens World Series since its inception in 1999–2000:

Cup wins
Season Tournament Final opponent Score
2001–02 Samoa 17–14
2002–03 Argentina 35–17
2003–04 New Zealand 33–26
Argentina 24–19
2004–05 England 21–12
2005–06 Samoa 33–12
2006–07 2006 Dubai Sevens New Zealand 31–12
2007–08 2008 Adelaide Sevens New Zealand 15–7
2008–09 2008 Dubai Sevens England 19–12
2008 South Africa Sevens New Zealand 12–7
2009 Adelaide Sevens Kenya 26–7
2010–11 2011 USA Sevens Fiji 24–14
2011 London Sevens Fiji 24–14
2011 Edinburgh Sevens Australia 36–35
2012–13 2013 USA Sevens New Zealand 40–21
2013 Japan Sevens New Zealand 24–19
2013 Scotland Sevens New Zealand 28–21
2013–14 2013 South Africa Sevens New Zealand 17–14
2014 USA Sevens New Zealand 14–7
2014–15 2014 Dubai Sevens Australia 33–7
2014 South Africa Sevens New Zealand 26–17
2015–16 2015 South Africa Sevens Argentina 29–14
2016–17 2016 Dubai Sevens Fiji 26–14
2017 Wellington Sevens Fiji 26–5
2017 Sydney Sevens England 29–14
2017 USA Sevens Fiji 19–12
2017 Paris Sevens Scotland 15–5
2017–18 2017 Dubai Sevens New Zealand 24–12
2018 Paris Sevens England 24–14

Current season[]

Main article: 2018–19 South Africa national rugby sevens team season

Players[]

For a complete list of every player to have represented the Blitzbokke, see List of South Africa national rugby sevens players.

Current squad[]

Main article: 2018–19 World Rugby Sevens Series squads § South Africa

The following players featured in the 2018–19 World Rugby Sevens Series:[3]

2019 Singapore Sevens squad
Player Position Date of birth (age) Debut Tourn­aments Matches Points Ref
Cecil Afrika Back (1988-03-03) 3 March 1988 (age 33) 2009 Dubai Sevens 62 324 1,440 [4]
Kurt-Lee Arendse Back (1996-06-17) 17 June 1996 (age 25) 2019 Canada Sevens 4 16 45 [5]
Kyle Brown Forward (1987-02-06) 6 February 1987 (age 34) 2008 Dubai Sevens 69 347 445 [6]
Angelo Davids Back (1999-06-01) 1 June 1999 (age 22) 2019 Hong Kong Sevens 2 11 10 [7]
Selvyn Davids Back (1994-03-26) 26 March 1994 (age 27) 2017 Hong Kong Sevens 14 69 300 [8]
Zain Davids Forward (1997-05-04) 4 May 1997 (age 24) 2017 Wellington Sevens 18 88 60 [9]
Chris Dry Forward (1988-02-13) 13 February 1988 (age 33) 2010 Adelaide Sevens 68 342 465 [10]
Muller du Plessis Back (1999-06-25) 25 June 1999 (age 22) 2018 USA Sevens 10 44 155 [11]
Branco du Preez Back (1990-05-08) 8 May 1990 (age 31) 2010 Wellington Sevens 71 361 1,302 [12]
Stedman Gans Back (1997-03-19) 19 March 1997 (age 24) 2017 USA Sevens 18 85 130 [13]
Justin Geduld Back (1993-10-01) 1 October 1993 (age 27) 2013 Wellington Sevens 46 239 951 [14]
Dewald Human Back (1995-05-19) 19 May 1995 (age 26) 2017 Paris Sevens 9 43 114 [15]
Werner Kok Back / Forward (1993-01-17) 17 January 1993 (age 28) 2013 London Sevens 47 240 530 [16]
Sako Makata Forward (1998-09-10) 10 September 1998 (age 23) 2019 USA Sevens 6 24 10 [17]
James Murphy Forward (1995-11-30) 30 November 1995 (age 25) 2018 Hong Kong Sevens 3 12 0 [18]
Mfundo Ndhlovu Back (1997-04-05) 5 April 1997 (age 24) 2018 Hong Kong Sevens 4 17 25 [19]
Ryan Oosthuizen Forward (1995-05-22) 22 May 1995 (age 26) 2017 Hong Kong Sevens 17 83 85 [20]
JC Pretorius Forward (1998-01-29) 29 January 1998 (age 23) 2019 Sydney Sevens 5 27 55 [21]
Philip Snyman Forward (1987-03-26) 26 March 1987 (age 34) 2008 Dubai Sevens 61 276 376 [22]
Siviwe Soyizwapi (c) Back (1992-12-07) 7 December 1992 (age 28) 2016 Hong Kong Sevens 28 145 445 [23]
Rosko Specman [a] Back (1989-04-28) 28 April 1989 (age 32) 2014 Wellington Sevens 28 150 380 [24]
Impi Visser Forward (1995-05-30) 30 May 1995 (age 26) 2018 Dubai Sevens 10 55 65 [25]
Updated after the 2018–19 World Rugby Sevens Series.
(c) denotes the team captain.
  1. ^ Rosko Specman was available for the first two events of the series before joining the Bulls for the 2019 Super Rugby season.

Previous squads[]

The previous South African Sevens squads are as follows:

Player records[]

The following shows leading career South Africa players based on statistics from the World Rugby Sevens Series. Players in bold are still active.

Tries scored[26]
No. Player Tries
1 Seabelo Senatla 230
2 Cecil Afrika 179
3 Fabian Juries 179
4 Justin Geduld 111
5 Werner Kok 109

References[]

  1. ^ "World Games Day 2: Fiji cruise to Gold Medal". Ultimate Rugby Sevens. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  2. ^ "2013 World Games rugby results". Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  3. ^ "Blitzboks accept the Singapore challenge – Powell" (Press release). South African Rugby Union. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  4. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Cecil Afrika". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  5. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Kurt-Lee Arendse". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  6. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Kyle Brown". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  7. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Angelo Davids". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  8. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Selvyn Davids". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  9. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Zain Davids". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  10. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Chris Dry". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  11. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Muller du Plessis". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  12. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Branco Du Preez". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  13. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Stedman Gans". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  14. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Justin Geduld". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  15. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Dewald Human". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  16. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Werner Kok". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  17. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Sakoyisa Makata". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  18. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : James Murphy". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  19. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Mfundo Ndhlovu". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  20. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Ryan Oosthuizen". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  21. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : JC Pretorius". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  22. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Philip Snyman". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  23. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Siviwe Soyizwapi". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  24. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Rosko Specman". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  25. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series : Impi Visser". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  26. ^ World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020

External links[]

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