The Springbok Sevens team won the HSBC SVNS Cape Town title for the first time in nine years when they defeated France by 26-14 in a pulsating final at the DHL Stadium on Sunday evening.
It was the perfect ending to a tournament played in perfect conditions and with more than 75 000 people in attendance over two days in the Mother City, where the Blitzboks won all four their games.
The last time South Africa won their home tournament at DHL Stadium was in December 2015, when they beat Argentina in the final. The hosts were runners up in 2016 (against England) and 2019 (against New Zealand).
With Springbok captain Siya Kolisi in attendance, the Blitzboks turned the clock back and played their hearts out, scoring four tries to France’s two in the final.
The French scored in the first minute but the Blitzboks hit back a few minutes later when Donavan Don raced through on a perfect angle from an attacking line-out, to make it 7-7.
From the restart, Impi Visser won the ball back and after a few attacking phases, Zain Davids smashed his way through the French defence, with Ricardo Duarttee’s second conversion giving South Africa a seven point lead.
The French hit back on the stroke of half-time with another converted try and the teams went into the break even on 14-14.
The second half belonged to the Blitzboks though, as Shilton van Wyk scored from a superb Dewald Human grubber before David Brits all but sealed the deal with four minutes to go.
Despite a yellow card to Siviwe Soyizwapi, the Blitzboks held on for a fantastic victory.
Earlier France beat Fiji by 19-17 courtesy of a converted try in the corner with time up on the clock in the second semi-final after the home side were forced to dig deep to take down Spain 19-12.
Fiji finished the weekend with a win and the bronze medal after they beat Spain by 47-10 in the third-place play-off, in a repeat of last weekend’s final in Dubai.
In the women’s competition, New Zealand were crowned champions after beating USA in the final - 26-12 - and France took the bronze medal after defeating the Aussies by 17-14.
In the semi-finals, New Zealand had too much class for France and won their semi-final by 43-0, setting up a final against USA, who upset last week’s champions in Duban, Australia, by 24-19 in the second semi-final.
Score
Blitzboks 26 (14), France 14 (14)
Blitzboks – Tries: Donavan Don, Zain Davids, Shilton van Wyk, David Brits. Conversions: Ricardo Duarttee (3).
France – Tries: Celian Pouzelgues, Varian Pasquet. Conversions: Stephen Parez Edo Martin, Paulin Riva.
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