South Africa national rugby sevens team

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.

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see South Africa women's national rugby sevens team.

South Africa
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Blitzboks, Blitzbokke
EmblemSpringbok
UnionSouth African Rugby Union
Head coachSandile Ngcobo
CaptainSiviwe Soyizwapi
Top scorerCecil Afrika (1,430)
Top try scorerSeabelo Senatla (224)
First colours
Second colours
Rugby World Cup Sevens
Appearances7 (First in 1993)
Best resultRunners-up (1997)

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
Brazil 2016 Bronze medal match 3rd 6 4 2 0
Japan 2020 Fifth place match 5th 6 5 2 1
Total0 Titles2/212930

Rugby World Cup Sevens
World Cup Sevens record
Year Round Position Played Won Lost Drew
Scotland 1993 Quarterfinals 5th 8 6 2 0
Hong Kong 1997 Final 2nd 7 6 1 0
Argentina 2001 Quarterfinals 5th 6 5 1 0
Hong Kong 2005 Quarterfinals 5th 6 4 2 0
United Arab Emirates 2009 Quarterfinals 5th 4 3 1 0
Russia 2013 Quarterfinals 5th 4 3 1 0
United States 2018 Semifinals 3rd 4 3 1 0
South Africa 2022 7th place final 7th 4 2 2 0
Total0 Titles8/84332110

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
England 2022 Champions 1st 6 6 0 0
Total2 Titles403280

World Games
TournamentPlacing
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
2008–09132Fiji (102)3
2016–17192England (164)5
2017–18182Fiji (180)2
2020–2140Great Britain (34)2

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
2001–022002 Wellington SevensSamoa17–14
2002–032003 Cardiff SevensArgentina35–17
2003–042003 Dubai SevensNew Zealand33–26
2004 Singapore SevensArgentina24–19
2004–052005 London SevensEngland21–12
2005–062006 Paris SevensSamoa33–12
2006–072006 Dubai SevensNew Zealand31–12
2007–082008 Adelaide SevensNew Zealand15–7
2008–092008 Dubai SevensEngland19–12
2008 South Africa SevensNew Zealand12–7
2009 Adelaide SevensKenya26–7
2010–112011 USA SevensFiji24–14
2011 London SevensFiji24–14
2011 Edinburgh SevensAustralia36–35
2012–132013 USA SevensNew Zealand40–21
2013 Japan SevensNew Zealand24–19
2013 Scotland SevensNew Zealand28–21
2013–142013 South Africa SevensNew Zealand17–14
2014 USA SevensNew Zealand14–7
2014–152014 Dubai SevensAustralia33–7
2014 South Africa SevensNew Zealand26–17
2015–162015 South Africa SevensArgentina29–14
2016–172016 Dubai SevensFiji26–14
2017 Wellington SevensFiji26–5
2017 Sydney SevensEngland29–14
2017 USA SevensFiji19–12
2017 Paris SevensScotland15–5
2017–182017 Dubai SevensNew Zealand24–12
2018 Paris SevensEngland24–14
2018–192019 Vancouver SevensFrance21–12
2019 Singapore SevensFiji20–19
2019–202019 Dubai SevensNew Zealand15–00
2020 Los Angeles SevensFiji29–24
20212021 Vancouver SevensKenya

38-05

2021 Edmonton SevensGreat Britain24–12
2021–20222021 Dubai SevensUSA42–07
2021 Dubai SevensAustralia10–07
2022 Malaga SevensArgentina24–17
2022 Sevilla SevensAustralia33–07

Current season
Main article: 2021–22 World Rugby Sevens Series

Players
For a complete list of every player to have represented the Blitzbokke, see List of South Africa national rugby sevens players.
South Africa in 2017

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 AfrikaBack (1988-03-03) 3 March 19882009 Dubai Sevens 623241,440[4]
Kurt-Lee ArendseBack (1996-06-17) 17 June 19962019 Canada Sevens 41645[5]
Kyle BrownForward (1987-02-06) 6 February 19872008 Dubai Sevens 69347445[6]
Angelo DavidsBack (1999-06-01) 1 June 19992019 Hong Kong Sevens 21110[7]
Selvyn DavidsBack (1994-03-26) 26 March 19942017 Hong Kong Sevens 1469300[8]
Zain DavidsForward (1997-05-04) 4 May 19972017 Wellington Sevens 188860[9]
Chris DryForward (1988-02-13) 13 February 19882010 Adelaide Sevens 68342465[10]
Muller du PlessisBack (1999-06-25) 25 June 19992018 USA Sevens 1044155[11]
Branco du PreezBack (1990-05-08) 8 May 19902010 Wellington Sevens 713971,402[12]
Stedman GansBack (1997-03-19) 19 March 19972017 USA Sevens 1885130[13]
Justin GeduldBack (1993-10-01) 1 October 19932013 Wellington Sevens 46239951[14]
Dewald HumanBack (1995-05-19) 19 May 19952017 Paris Sevens 943114[15]
Werner KokBack / Forward (1993-01-17) 17 January 19932013 London Sevens 47240530[16]
Sako MakataForward (1998-09-10) 10 September 19982019 USA Sevens 62410[17]
James MurphyForward (1995-11-30) 30 November 19952018 Hong Kong Sevens 3120[18]
Mfundo NdhlovuBack (1997-04-05) 5 April 19972018 Hong Kong Sevens 41725[19]
Ryan OosthuizenForward (1995-05-22) 22 May 19952017 Hong Kong Sevens 178385[20]
JC PretoriusForward (1998-01-29) 29 January 19982019 Sydney Sevens 52755[21]
Philip SnymanForward (1987-03-26) 26 March 19872008 Dubai Sevens 61276376[22]
Siviwe Soyizwapi (c)Back (1992-12-07) 7 December 19922016 Hong Kong Sevens 28145445[23]
Rosko Specman [lower-alpha 1]Back (1989-04-28) 28 April 19892014 Wellington Sevens 28150380[24]
Impi VisserForward (1995-05-30) 30 May 19952018 Dubai Sevens 105565[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 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[26]
No. Player Tries
1 Seabelo Senatla 230
2 Cecil Afrika 179
3 Fabian Juries 179
4 Justin Geduld 114
5 Siviwe Soyizwapi 117
Matches[27]
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[28]
No. Player Points
1 Cecil Afrika 1462
2 Branco du Preez 1402
3 Seabelo Senatla 1150
4 Justin Geduld 1049
5 Fabian Juries 925

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
  27. World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
  28. World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
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