South Africa national rugby sevens team

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Revision as of 17:28, 27 July 2024 by IcepickEldorado (talk | contribs) (→Summer Olympics)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Rugby union sevens team This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see South Africa women's national rugby sevens team.

South Africa

Nicknames

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)

First colours

Second colours

Rugby World Cup Sevens

Appearances

8 (First in 1993)

Best result

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
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	L	D
2016	Bronze medal match	3rd	6	4	2	0
2020	Fifth place match	5th	6	5	2	1
2024	Bronze medal match	3rd	6	5	2	1
Total	0 Titles	2/2	12	9	3	0

Rugby World Cup Sevens

World Cup Sevens record
Year	Round	Position	Played	Won	Lost	Drew
1993	Quarterfinals	5th	8	6	2	0
1997	Final	2nd	7	6	1	0
2001	Quarterfinals	5th	6	5	1	0
2005	Quarterfinals	5th	6	4	2	0
2009	Quarterfinals	5th	4	3	1	0
2013	Quarterfinals	5th	4	3	1	0
2018	Semifinals	3rd	4	3	1	0
2022	7th place final	7th	4	2	2	0
Total	0 Titles	8/8	43	32	11	0

Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	L	D
1998	Quarterfinalists	5th	5	4	1	0
2002	Semifinalists	3rd	6	5	1	0
2006	Plate Finalists	6th	6	3	3	0
2010	Semifinalists	3rd	6	5	1	0
2014	Champions	1st	6	6	0	0
2018	Semifinalists	4th	5	3	2	0
2022	Champions	1st	6	6	0	0
Total	2 Titles		40	32	8	0

World Games

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

World Rugby Sevens Series

Main article: South Africa at the World Rugby Sevens Series

Series Record

Season	Position
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
Season	Tournament	Final opponent	Score
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
2003–04	2004 Singapore Sevens	Argentina	24–19
2004–05	2005 London Sevens	England	21–12
2005–06	2006 Paris Sevens	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
2013–14	2014 USA Sevens	New Zealand	14–7
2014–15	2014 Dubai Sevens	Australia	33–7
2014–15	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
2017–18	2018 Paris Sevens	England	24–14
2018–19	2019 Vancouver Sevens	France	21–12
2018–19	2019 Singapore Sevens	Fiji	20–19
2019–20	2019 Dubai Sevens	New Zealand	15–00
2019–20	2020 Los Angeles Sevens	Fiji	29–24
2021	2021 Vancouver Sevens	Kenya	38-05
2021	2021 Edmonton Sevens	Great Britain	24–12
2021–22	2021 Dubai Sevens	USA	42–7
	2021 Dubai Sevens	Australia	10– 7
	2022 Malaga Sevens	Argentina	24–17
	2022 Sevilla Sevens	Australia	33–7
2022–23	2022 Dubai Sevens	Ireland	21–5
2023–24	2023 Dubai Sevens	Argentina	12–7

Current season

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.

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Zain Davids	Forward	(1997-05-04) 4 May 1997 (age 27)	42	Unattached
Christie Grobbelaar	Forward	(2000-05-25) 25 May 2000 (age 24)	18	Unattached
Katlego Letebele	Forward	(2003-11-18) 18 November 2003 (age 21)	2	Unattached
Masande Mtshali	Forward	(2003-07-10) 10 July 2003 (age 21)	7	Unattached
Ryan Oosthuizen	Forward	(1995-05-22) 22 May 1995 (age 29)	45	Unattached
Impi Visser	Forward	(1995-05-30) 30 May 1995 (age 29)	34	Unattached
Ronald Brown	Back	(1995-09-02) 2 September 1995 (age 29)	15	Unattached
Selvyn Davids (c)	Back	(1994-03-26) 26 March 1994 (age 30)	31	Unattached
Justin Geduld	Back	(1993-10-01) 1 October 1993 (age 31)	56	Unattached
Dewald Human	Back	(1995-05-19) 19 May 1995 (age 29)	24	Unattached
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 25)	15	Unattached

Records and statistics

Previous squads

The previous South African Sevens squads are as follows:

Squads

v t e South Africa squad – 2020 Summer Olympics
Forwards	Chris Dry Sako Makata Impi Visser Zain Davids Angelo Davids JC Pretorius
Backs	Branco du Preez Selvyn Davids Justin Geduld Kurt-Lee Arendse Siviwe Soyizwapi (c) Stedman Gans Ronald Brown
Coach	Neil Powell

v t e South Africa Sevens – 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens — Bronze medal
Squad	Heino Bezuidenhout Selvyn Davids Zain Davids Justin Geduld Dewald Human Werner Kok Ruhan Nel Ryan Oosthuizen Dylan Sage Philip Snyman Siviwe Soyizwapi Rosko Specman
Coach	Neil Powell

v t e South Africa Sevens – 2018 Commonwealth Games
Squad	Cecil Afrika Tim Agaba Kyle Brown Selvyn Davids Zain Davids Branco du Preez Justin Geduld Werner Kok Ruhan Nel Dylan Sage Philip Snyman Rosko Specman Siviwe Soyizwapi
Coach	Neil Powell

South Africa Sevens – 2017–18 World Rugby Sevens Series — Champions

Squad

Coach

v t e South Africa Sevens – 2016–17 World Rugby Sevens Series — Champions
Squad	Cecil Afrika Tim Agaba Kyle Brown Selvyn Davids Zain Davids Stephan Dippenaar Chris Dry Branco du Preez Stedman Gans Justin Geduld Dewald Human Werner Kok Marco Labuschagné Ruhan Nel Sandile Ngcobo Ryan Oosthuizen Dylan Sage Seabelo Senatla Kwagga Smith Philip Snyman Siviwe Soyizwapi Rosko Specman
Coach	Neil Powell

v t e South Africa squad – 2016 Summer Olympics – Bronze medal
Forwards	Tim Agaba Kyle Brown Werner Kok Philip Snyman Kwagga Smith
Backs	Cecil Afrika Juan de Jongh Justin Geduld Francois Hougaard Cheslin Kolbe Dylan Sage Seabelo Senatla Rosko Specman
Coach	Neil Powell

v t e South Africa Sevens – 2014 Commonwealth Games — Gold medal
Squad	Cecil Afrika Kyle Brown Chris Dry Branco du Preez Justin Geduld Cornal Hendricks Frankie Horne Werner Kok Mark Richards Seabelo Senatla Kwagga Smith Warren Whiteley
Coach	Neil Powell

v t e South Africa Sevens – 2013 World Games — Champions
Squad	Bernado Botha Kyle Brown Stephan Dippenaar Cornal Hendricks Steven Hunt Ruwellyn Isbell Reuben Johannes Werner Kok Mark Richards Seabelo Senatla WJ Strydom Jamba Ulengo
Coach	Neil Powell / Vuyo Zangqa

v t e South Africa Sevens – 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens
Squad	Cecil Afrika Rayno Benjamin Kyle Brown Stephan Dippenaar Chris Dry Branco du Preez Cornal Hendricks Cheslin Kolbe Sampie Mastriet Seabelo Senatla S'bura Sithole Philip Snyman
Coach	Paul Treu

v t e South Africa Sevens – 2010 Commonwealth Games — Bronze medal
Squad	Cecil Afrika Rayno Benjamin Bernado Botha Renfred Dazel Paul Delport Okkie Kruger MJ Mentz Chase Minnaar Tera Mtembu Neil Powell Boom Prinsloo S'bura Sithole
Coach	Paul Treu

v t e South Africa Sevens – 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens
Squad	Gio Aplon Rayno Benjamin Kyle Brown Renfred Dazel Paul Delport Robert Ebersohn Frankie Horne Lionel Mapoe Mpho Mbiyozo Neil Powell Philip Snyman Vuyo Zangqa
Coach	Paul Treu

v t e South Africa Sevens – 2008–09 IRB Sevens World Series — Champions
Squad	Gio Aplon Rayno Benjamin Kyle Brown Renfred Dazel Paul Delport Robert Ebersohn Frankie Horne Lionel Mapoe Mpho Mbiyozo Chase Minnaar Howard Noble Milo Nqoro Neil Powell Marius Schoeman Philip Snyman Mzwandile Stick Vuyo Zangqa
Coach	Paul Treu

v t e South Africa Sevens – 2006 Commonwealth Games
Squad	Stefan Basson Philip Burger Renfred Dazel Danwel Demas Fabian Juries Ryan Kankowski Thobela Mdaka Zolani Mofu Jonathan Mokuena Jaco Pretorius Mzwandile Stick Schalk van der Merwe Antonius Verhoeven
Coach	Paul Treu

v t e South Africa Sevens – 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens
Squad	Stefan Basson Danwel Demas Eddie Fredericks Lesley Jackson Fabian Juries Gareth Krause Thobela Mdaka Jaco Pretorius Marius Schoeman Mzwandile Stick Schalk van der Merwe Jano Vermaak
Coach	Paul Treu

v t e South Africa Sevens – 2002 Commonwealth Games — Bronze medal
Squad	Jean de Villiers Gaffie du Toit Ian Fihlani Dale Heidtmann Conrad Jantjes Fabian Juries Jorrie Müller Anton Pitout Neil Powell Marius Schoeman Egon Seconds Paul Treu Wayne van Heerden Luke Watson
Coach	Chester Williams

v t e South Africa Sevens – 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens
Squad	Helgard Brink Warren Britz Ricardo Loubscher Breyton Paulse André Pretorius Bobby Skinstad Rodger Smith Paul Treu Wayne van Heerden Chester Williams
Coach	Norman Mbiko

v t e South Africa Sevens – 1998 Commonwealth Games
Squad	Gaffie du Toit Joe Gillingham Deon Kayser Werner Raats Pieter Rossouw Bobby Skinstad Jeffrey Stevens André Venter Chester Williams Russell Winter
Coach	Dawie Snyman

v t e South Africa Sevens – 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens
Squad	Graeme Bouwer Stephen Brink Jacques Olivier Shaun Payne Pieter Rossouw Bobby Skinstad André Snyman Jeffrey Stevens Joost van der Westhuizen André Venter
Coach	Dawie Snyman

v t e South Africa Sevens – 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens
Squad	Chris Badenhorst Jannie Claassens André Joubert Dieter Kriese Ruben Kruger Dick Muir Dion O'Cuinneagain Jacques Olivier Joost van der Westhuizen Chester Williams
Coach	Gysie Pienaar

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
No.	Player	Tries
1	Seabelo Senatla	230
2	Cecil Afrika	179
3	Fabian Juries	179
4	Justin Geduld	114
5	Siviwe Soyizwapi	117

Matches
No.	Player	Matches
1	Branco du Preez	397
2	Chris Dry	373
3	Kyle Brown	347
4	Cecil Afrika	345
5	Frankie Horne	344

Points
No.	Player	Points
1	Cecil Afrika	1462
2	Branco du Preez	1402
3	Seabelo Senatla	1150
4	Justin Geduld	1049
5	Fabian Juries	925

Award winners

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

World Rugby Men's 7s Player of the Year (2004–14)
Year	Nominees	Winners
2006	Stefan Basson	—
2008	Fabian Juries
2009	Renfred Dazel
2011	Cecil Afrika	Cecil Afrika
2014	Kyle Brown	—

World Rugby Men's 7s Player of the Year (2015–23)
Year	Nominees	Winners
2015	Werner Kok	Werner Kok
2015	Seabelo Senatla	Werner Kok
2016	Seabelo Senatla (2)	Seabelo Senatla
2017	Rosko Specman	—

References

"World Games Day 2: Fiji cruise to Gold Medal". Ultimate Rugby Sevens. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
"2013 World Games rugby results". Retrieved 7 January 2014.
World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
"Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.

External links

South Africa national rugby union team

South African Rugby Union

History

Players

Competitions and trophies

Related teams

Matches

World Cup finals	1995 2007 2019 2023
By opponent	Argentina Australia Barbarians British & Irish Lions England France Ireland Italy New Zealand Scotland Wales
See also	New Zealand (1992)

Tours

Argentina and South America	1932 1959 1966 1972 1980 1993 1996 2000 2005
Australia	1921 1937 1956 1965 1971 1993
Europe	1906–07 1912–13 1931–32 1951–52 1960–61 1965 1969–70 1992 1994 1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
New Zealand	1921 1937 1956 1965 1981 1994
North America	1981 2001

Rugby union in South Africa

Governing body

South African Rugby Union

National teams

Men's	Springboks 'A' 7's Amateurs U-21 U-20 Schoolboys
Women's	Women's 7's

Competitions

International	South Africa at the Rugby World Cup World Rugby Sevens Series South Africa Sevens South Africa Women's Sevens World Rugby U20 Championship United Rugby Championship The Rugby Championship
Provincial	Currie Cup SA Cup
Club	Gold Cup Varsity Rugby Women's Varsity Cup
Women's clubs	Women's Premier Division
Youth rugby	Craven Week
Defunct	Vodacom Cup Rugby Challenge Mzanzi Challenge

v t e National rugby sevens teams
World Rugby Sevens Series core teams	Argentina Australia Canada Fiji France Great Britain Ireland New Zealand Samoa South Africa Spain United States
Teams with Rugby World Cup Sevens experience	Chile Chinese Taipei Cook Islands England Georgia Germany Hong Kong Italy Jamaica Japan Kenya Latvia Morocco Namibia Netherlands Papua New Guinea Philippines Portugal Romania Russia Scotland South Korea Tonga Tunisia Uganda Uruguay Wales Zimbabwe
Other teams	Afghanistan Algeria American Samoa Andorra Austria Bahamas Bahrain Barbados Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Cayman Islands China Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland Guam Guyana Hungary India Indonesia Iran Israel Kazakhstan Kiribati Kosovo Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malaysia Malta Mexico Moldova Monaco Montenegro Nauru New Caledonia Nigeria Niue Norway Pakistan Paraguay Peru Poland Qatar San Marino Serbia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Sri Lanka Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Tahiti Thailand Tokelau Trinidad & Tobago Turkey Tuvalu Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Wallis and Futuna West Indies
Defunct	Arabian Gulf Czechoslovakia East Germany West Germany USSR Yugoslavia

v t e National sports teams of South Africa
A1 GP Australian rules football Badminton Baseball U-18 Baseball5 Basketball M M U/18 M U/16 F F U/18 F U/16 Beach soccer Cricket M SA A M U/19 W W U/19 Blind Field hockey M M U/21 M U/18 F F U/21 F U/18 Futsal Goalball F U/17 Handball M F Ice hockey M M U/20 M U/18 F F U/18 Indoor hockey M W Korfball Netball W M Roller derby Roller hockey Rugby league Rugby union M M U/20 M U/18 M-7s F W-7s Soccer M M U/23 M U/20 M U/17 M U/15 F F U/20 F U/17 F U/15 Softball M F F U/18 Squash M F Tennis M F X Volleyball M F Water polo M F
Olympics Paralympics African Games Commonwealth Games

National sports teams of South Africa

A1 GP
Australian rules football
Badminton
Baseball
- U-18
Baseball5
Basketball
- M
- M U/18
- M U/16
- F
- F U/18
- F U/16
Beach soccer
Cricket
- M
- SA A
- M U/19
- W
- W U/19
- Blind
Field hockey
- M
- M U/21
- M U/18
- F
- F U/21
- F U/18
Futsal
Goalball F U/17
Handball
- M
- F
Ice hockey
- M
- M U/20
- M U/18
- F
- F U/18
Indoor hockey
- M
- W
Korfball
Netball
- W
- M
Roller derby
Roller hockey
Rugby league
Rugby union
- M
- M U/20
- M U/18
- M-7s
- F
- W-7s
Soccer
- M
- M U/23
- M U/20
- M U/17
- M U/15
- F
- F U/20
- F U/17
- F U/15
Softball
- M
- F
- F U/18
Squash
- M
- F
Tennis
- M
- F
- X
Volleyball
- M
- F
Water polo
- M
- F

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