South Africa national rugby sevens team

Last updated

South Africa
South Africa national rugby sevens team.svg
NicknamesSpringbok Sevens, Blitzboks, Blitzbokke
Emblem Springbok
Union South African Rugby Union
Head coach Sandile Ngcobo (rugby union)
Captain Selvyn Davids
Top scorer Cecil Afrika (1,430)
Top try scorer Seabelo Senatla (224)
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First colours
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Second colours
Rugby World Cup Sevens
Appearances8 (First in 1993 )
Best resultRunners-up (1997)

The South African national rugby sevens team, commonly known as the Springbok Sevens, [1] competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. Overall, the team has won the World Rugby Sevens Series 4 times, as well as having won 40 tournaments in the series.

Contents

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, 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 as well as 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
YearRoundPositionPldWLD
Flag of Brazil.svg 2016 Bronze medal match3rd6420
Flag of Japan.svg 2020 Fifth place match5th6510
Flag of France.svg 2024 Bronze medal match3rd6330
Total0 Titles2/2181260

Rugby World Cup Sevens

World Cup Sevens record
YearRoundPositionPlayedWonLostDrew
Flag of Scotland.svg 1993 Quarterfinals5th8620
Flag of Hong Kong 1959.svg 1997 Final2nd7610
Flag of Argentina.svg 2001 Quarterfinals5th6510
Flag of Hong Kong.svg 2005 Quarterfinals5th6420
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg 2009 Quarterfinals5th4310
Flag of Russia.svg 2013 Quarterfinals5th4310
Flag of the United States.svg 2018 Semifinals3rd4310
Flag of South Africa.svg 2022 7th place final7th4220
Total0 Titles8/84332110

Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games record
YearRoundPositionPldWLD
Flag of Malaysia.svg 1998 Quarterfinalists5th5410
Flag of England.svg 2002 Semifinalists3rd6510
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2006 Plate Finalists6th6330
Flag of India.svg 2010 Semifinalists3rd6510
Flag of Scotland.svg 2014 Champions1st6600
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2018 Semifinalists4th5320
Flag of England.svg 2022 Champions1st6600
Total2 Titles403280

World Games

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

World Rugby Sevens Series

Series Record

SeasonPosition
1999–00 5th
2000–01 5th
2001–02 2nd
2002–03 4th
2003–04 5th
2004–05 4th
2005–06 3rd
2006–07 4th
2007–08 2nd
2008–09 1st
2009–10 6th
2010–11 2nd
2011–12 5th
2012–13 2nd
2013–14 2nd
2014–15 2nd
2015–16 2nd
2016–17 1st
2017–18 1st
2018–19 4th
2019–20 2nd
2021 1st
2021–22 2nd
2022–23 7th
2023–24 7th
Total-


Series tournament wins

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

40 Tournament wins (up to 06/12/2022)

Cup wins
SeasonTournamentFinal opponentScore
2001–02 2002 Wellington Sevens Samoa 17–14
2002–03 2003 Cardiff Sevens Argentina 35–17
2003–04 2003 Dubai Sevens New Zealand 33–26
2004 Singapore Sevens Argentina24–19
2004–05 2005 London Sevens England 21–12
2005–06 2006 Paris Sevens Samoa33–12
2006–07 2006 Dubai Sevens New Zealand31–12
2007–08 2008 Adelaide Sevens New Zealand15–7
2008–09 2008 Dubai Sevens England19–12
2008 South Africa Sevens New Zealand12–7
2009 Adelaide Sevens Kenya 26–7
2010–11 2011 USA Sevens Fiji 24–14
2011 London Sevens Fiji24–14
2011 Edinburgh Sevens Australia 36–35
2012–13 2013 USA Sevens New Zealand40–21
2013 Japan Sevens New Zealand24–19
2013 Scotland Sevens New Zealand28–21
2013–14 2013 South Africa Sevens New Zealand17–14
2014 USA Sevens New Zealand14–7
2014–15 2014 Dubai Sevens Australia33–7
2014 South Africa Sevens New Zealand26–17
2015–16 2015 South Africa Sevens Argentina29–14
2016–17 2016 Dubai Sevens Fiji26–14
2017 Wellington Sevens Fiji26–5
2017 Sydney Sevens England29–14
2017 USA Sevens Fiji19–12
2017 Paris Sevens Scotland 15–5
2017–18 2017 Dubai Sevens New Zealand24–12
2018 Paris Sevens England24–14
2018–19 2019 Vancouver Sevens France21–12
2019 Singapore Sevens Fiji20–19
2019–20 2019 Dubai Sevens New Zealand15–00
2020 Los Angeles Sevens Fiji29–24
2021 2021 Vancouver Sevens Kenya

38–05

2021 Edmonton Sevens Great Britain24–12
2021–22 2021 Dubai Sevens USA42–7
2021 Dubai Sevens Australia10–7
2022 Malaga Sevens Argentina24–17
2022 Sevilla Sevens Australia33–7
2022–23 2022 Dubai Sevens Ireland 21–5
2023–24 2023 Dubai Sevens Argentina12–7

Players

Current squad

The following players have been selected to represent South Africa during the 2023–24 SVNS tournament beginning in December 2023.

Note: Caps reflect the total number of SVNS events competed in as of the 2023 South Africa Sevens.

Player Position Date of birth (age)CapsClub/province
Zain Davids Forward (1997-05-04) 4 May 1997 (age 27)42Unattached
Christie Grobbelaar Forward (2000-05-25) 25 May 2000 (age 24)18Unattached
Katlego Letebele Forward (2003-11-18) 18 November 2003 (age 21)2Unattached
Masande Mtshali Forward (2003-07-10) 10 July 2003 (age 21)7Unattached
Ryan Oosthuizen Forward (1995-05-22) 22 May 1995 (age 29)45Unattached
Impi Visser Forward (1995-05-30) 30 May 1995 (age 29)34Unattached
Ronald Brown Back (1995-09-02) 2 September 1995 (age 29)15Unattached
Selvyn Davids (c) Back (1994-03-26) 26 March 1994 (age 30)31Unattached
Justin Geduld Back (1993-10-01) 1 October 1993 (age 31)56Unattached
Dewald Human Back (1995-05-19) 19 May 1995 (age 29)24Unattached
Quewin Nortje Back (2003-01-14) 14 January 2003 (age 21)2 Blue Bulls
Rosko Specman Back (1989-04-28) 28 April 1989 (age 35)32 Griquas
Shilton van Wyk Back (1999-12-22) 22 December 1999 (age 24)15Unattached

Records and statistics

Previous squads

The previous South African Sevens squads are as follows:

Player records

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

Award winners

The following South Africa Sevens players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2004: [7]

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References

  1. "Springbok Sevens". sarugby.co.za. SA Rugby . Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  2. "World Games Day 2: Fiji cruise to Gold Medal". Ultimate Rugby Sevens. Archived from the original on 27 July 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  3. "2013 World Games rugby results". Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  4. World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
  5. World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
  6. World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
  7. "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.