South Africa national rugby sevens team explained

South Africa
Nickname:Blitzboks, Blitzbokke
Badge:Flag of South Africa.svg
Badge Size:160
Emblem:Springbok
Union:South African Rugby Union
Confederation:Rugby Africa
Coach:Sandile Ngcobo (rugby union)
Captain:Selvyn Davids
Top Scorer:Cecil Afrika (1,430)
Top Try Scorer:Seabelo Senatla (224)
World Rugby Trigramme:RSA
Pattern La1:_orange_border
Pattern B1:_goldcollar
Pattern Ra1:_orange_border
Pattern Sh1:_sides_on_white
Pattern So1:_3_stripes_gold
Leftarm1:275237
Body1:275237
Rightarm1:275237
Shorts1:CDCDCD
Socks1:275237
Pattern La2:_skyblueborder
Pattern B2:_greyblue_sleeve_seams
Pattern Ra2:_skyblueborder
Pattern Sh2:_navysides
Pattern So2:_3_stripes_gold
Leftarm2:FEFEFE
Body2:FEFEFE
Rightarm2:FEFEFE
Shorts2:ED9839
Socks2:195298
World Cup Sevens Apps:8
World Cup Sevens First:1993
World Cup Sevens Best:Runners-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. Overall, the team has won the World Rugby Sevens Series 4 times, as well as having won 40 tournaments in the series.

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
YearRoundPosition
2016Bronze medal match3rd6420
2020Fifth place match5th6510
2024Bronze medal match3rd6330
Total0 Titles2/2181260

Rugby World Cup Sevens

World Cup Sevens record
width=80pxYearRoundPositionPlayedWonLostDrew
1993Quarterfinals5th8620
1997Final2nd7610
2001Quarterfinals5th6510
2005Quarterfinals5th6420
2009Quarterfinals5th4310
2013Quarterfinals5th4310
2018Semifinals3rd4310
20227th place final7th4220
Total0 Titles8/84332110

Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games record
YearRoundPosition
1998Quarterfinalists5th5410
2002Semifinalists3rd6510
2006Plate Finalists6th6330
2010Semifinalists3rd6510
2014Champions1st6600
2018Semifinalists4th5320
2022Champions1st6600
Total2 Titles403280

World Games

Tournament Placing
2005 Duisburg2nd (Silver)
2009 Kaohsiung[1] 3rd (Bronze)
2013 Cali[2] 1st (Gold)

World Rugby Sevens Series

See main article: South Africa at the World Rugby Sevens Series.

Series Record

SeasonPosition
1999–005th
2000–015th
2001–022nd
2002–034th
2003–045th
2004–054th
2005–063rd
2006–074th
2007–082nd
2008–091st
2009–106th
2010–112nd
2011–125th
2012–132nd
2013–142nd
2014–152nd
2015–162nd
2016–171st
2017–181st
2018–194th
2019–202nd
20211st
2021–222nd
2022–237th
2023–247th
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
Samoa 17–14
35–17
33–26
Argentina 24–19
21–12
Samoa 33–12
New Zealand 31–12
New Zealand 15–7
England 19–12
New Zealand 12–7
Kenya 26–7
Fiji 24–14
Fiji 24–14
36–35
New Zealand 40–21
New Zealand 24–19
New Zealand 28–21
New Zealand 17–14
New Zealand 14–7
Australia 33–7
New Zealand 26–17
Argentina 29–14
Fiji 26–14
Fiji 26–5
England 29–14
Fiji 19–12
15–5
New Zealand 24–12
England 24–14
2019 Vancouver SevensFrance 21–12
Fiji 20–19
New Zealand 15–00
2020 Los Angeles SevensFiji 29–24
2021 Vancouver SevensKenya 38-05
2021 Edmonton SevensGreat Britain 24–12
2021–22USA 42–7
Australia 10–7
2022 Malaga SevensArgentina 24–17
2022 Sevilla SevensAustralia 33–7
2022–232022 Dubai SevensIreland21–5
2023–242023 Dubai SevensArgentina12–7

Current season

See main article: 2021–22 World Rugby Sevens Series.

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.

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.

+Tries scored[3]
width=25 No.width=110 Playerwidth=40 Tries
1230
2179
3179
4114
5117
+Matches[4]
width=25 No.width=110 Playerwidth=40 Matches
1397
2373
3347
4345
5344
+Points[5]
width=25 No.width=110 Playerwidth=40 Points
11462
21402
31150
41049
5925

Award winners

The following South Africa Sevens players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2004:[6]

World Rugby Men's 7s Player of the Year (2004–14)
width=40Yearwidth=170Nomineeswidth=170Winners
2006Stefan Bassonalign=center rowspan=3
2008Fabian Juries
2009Renfred Dazel
2011Cecil AfrikaCecil Afrika
2014Kyle Brown
World Rugby Men's 7s Player of the Year (2015–23)
width=40Yearwidth=170Nomineeswidth=170Winners
align=center rowspan=22015Werner Kokalign=center rowspan=2Werner Kok
Seabelo Senatla
2016Seabelo Senatla (2)Seabelo Senatla
2017Rosko Specman

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: World Games Day 2: Fiji cruise to Gold Medal . Ultimate Rugby Sevens . 7 January 2014 . 27 July 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090727155147/http://ur7s.com/news/354/world_games_day_2_fiji_cruise_to_gold_medal . dead .
  2. Web site: 2013 World Games rugby results . 7 January 2014 . 24 November 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181124105853/http://worldgames2013.sportresult.com/NH/en/300/Comp/Info/RU/Bracket/RUM400000 . dead .
  3. https://www.world.rugby/sevens-series/stats/mens/alltime/players?metric=tries&team=2416 World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
  4. https://www.world.rugby/sevens-series/stats/mens/alltime/players?metric=tries&team=2416 World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
  5. https://www.world.rugby/sevens-series/stats/mens/alltime/players?metric=tries&team=2416 World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
  6. News: Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby . www.world.rugby . 16 March 2024 . en.