Blitzboks defend their Cape Town title in style

The Springbok Sevens successfully defended their HSBC SVNS Cape Town title in spectacular fashion, edging Argentina by 21-19 in a hard-fought final on Sunday afternoon.

The teams finished on three tries apiece, but it was a moment of defensive brilliance with time up on the clock that had the crowd on their feet as the Blitzboks became the first team to successfully defend the Cape Town title.

They had to dig deep though after Argentina took a 19-7 lead early in the second half but the Blitzboks did what was necessary and finished the weekend as the only unbeaten men's team at DHL Stadium.

Argentina scored first from a midfield scrum. They sent the ball to the left and Luciano Gonzalez went over, with the conversion giving them a 7-0 lead after two minutes.

The Blitzboks responded two minutes later when Zain Davids intercepted an Argentinian pass inside the South African 22. They sent the ball wide to Donavan Don who raced away for a try under the sticks, with the score 7-7 after Ricardo Duarttee's conversion.

A momentary lapse in concentration allowed Argentina their second try, straight from the restart, with Marcos Moneta racing away untouched to put his side 14-7 up.

At this stage, the Blitzboks were guilty of making too many uncharacteristic mistakes which allowed Argentina to keep the pressure up and from the restart after the break, Moneta scored their third try as he had too much pace for the cover defence to go over in the corner and give the Pumas a 12-point lead.

But then South African guts came into play with the replacements lifting the tempo. The Blitzboks spread the ball wide and debutant Nabo Sokoyi stepped his way past a would-be defender to race away from 50m out. Duarttee's conversion made it 19-14 with four minutes to go.

It was a bit of an arm-wrestle at this stage and Argentina managed to keep possession but again the Blitzboks turned the ball over and sent Christie Grobbelaar away for a try under the uprights, with the conversion pushing them into a two-point lead with 30 seconds remaining.

The drama wasn't over yet as the restart went straight into touch and Argentina had one last chance but the Blitzboks' defence was absolutely superb and after a couple of massive hits, they won a penalty to seal the deal.

Earlier on Sunday, the Blitzboks outscored France by four tries to three for a 22-17 victory in their semi-final that had the crowd on the edge of their seats throughout.

Shilton van Wyk carried on where he left off on Saturday and scored the first of his two tries as the Blitzboks managed their possession from the kickoff before sending the speedster away on the left in the first minute.

Tristan Leyds showed some individual brilliance a few minutes later for the second try after France were penalised for going off their feet at a ruck. The Blitzbok playmaker took a quick tap and cantered over for the try to push South Africa into a 10-0 lead.

With two minutes left in the first half, France had an attacking lineout and after spreading the ball wide with the odd slick pass, Jordan Sepho scored in the left corner but from the restart, the ball bounced into the hands of Van Wyk with no one in front of him and he raced away for a 60m try, with Duarttee's conversion making it 17-5.

Unfortunately for the Blitzboks, Josselin Bouhier scored for France from the restart after working their way upfield from deep in their own half. The successful conversion made it a five-point game at the break.

France levelled the scores from the restart as Bouhier scored a similar try to Van Wyk's second, with the ball bouncing right for the speedster who raced away for the points.

But the last say belonged to the Blitzboks, who kept piling on the pressure in spite of a few penalties going against them, with Ryan Oosthuizen the man to do the damage from a turnover in the French 22.

France had one last opportunity with a free kick from the middle of the field after the Blitzboks took too long with the restart, but the South Africans' defence held firm and they booked their spot in the final.

Springbok Sevens captain Impi Visser credited his side’s ability to “stay in the moment” as crucial to a consecutive HSBC SVNS Cape Town title at DHL Stadium on Sunday.

A total of 68 124 spectators – 36 183 on Saturday and 31 941 on Sunday – attended the event and apart from being treated to 267 tries over the weekend, saw the same two teams in action in the final from 10 years ago, the first time the tournament was hosted at DHL Stadium.

Afterwards, Visser said the team had a motto for the weekend, especially for the final, and that was “to stay in the moment”.

“We managed to do that and when the big moments came, we were ready for it and could handle it – that was the difference today, I believe,” said Visser.

The Blitzbok captain said the win in the second round of the HSBC SVNS season completed their comeback from Dubai last weekend, where they finished fifth, and added that they have now redeemed themselves with this victory.

“We wanted to come back and recitify things as we did not do justice to the jersey last weekend,” said Visser.

“This weekend, playing very tough opponents and beating all of them, proved that we believe in the jersey and what it stands for.

“Credit to every player who was involved, but also to those in the extended group, who helped us prepare for these last two weekends. They deserve the accolades just as much as we do.

Visser also praised the vociferous Cape Town crowd: “They were instrumental in this win, they brought energy and picked us up every time we made a mistake.

“Someone like Christie Grobbelaar, an experienced player in our squad could win here for the first time, while debutant Nabo Sokoyi also contributed tremendously in the final. It was a good day to be a Blitzbok.”

South Africa, New Zealand and Fiji are now jointly tied first on the log with 32 points after two tournaments, followed by France in fourth on 28, Australia on 26 and Argentina on 24.

In the women's competition Australia put the disappointment of their desert reign-ending defeat in Dubai on the opening weekend of the HSBC SVNS Series with a gold-wrapped unbeaten run to the Cape Town title.

Isabella Nasser and her teammates had the upper hand over arch-rivals New Zealand throughout the gold-medal match to lift the trophy as the sun went down.

France claimed a podium place in South Africa for the third tournament in a row, with a thrilling comeback win over USA, after Japan had left it late to beat Canada for the third time in two tournaments and the second time in two days.

Player of the final Nasser said afterwards: “We hurt last week when we lost against the Kiwis. But we put it all out there today and I’m so proud of every single one of the girls. It was a big squad effort.

Scores

Springbok Sevens 22 (17) France 17 (12)

Blitzboks - Tries: Shilton van Wyk (2), Tristan Leyds, Ryan Oosthuizen. Conversion: Ricardo Duarttee.

France - Tries: Jordan Sepho, Josselin Bouhier (2). Conversion: Stephen Parez Edo Martin.

Springbok Sevens 21 (7) Argentina 19 (14)

Blitzboks - Tries: Donavan Don, Nabo Sokoyi, Christie Grobbelaar. Conversions: Ricardo Duarttee (3).

Argentina - Tries: Luciano Gonzalez, Marcos Moneta (2). Conversions: Santiago Vera Feld (2).

2026 HSBC SVNS schedule

29-30 November: Dubai - NZL/NZL

6-7 December: Cape Town - SA/AUS

31 January-1 February: Singapore

7-8 February: Perth

7-8 March: Vancouver

14-15 March: New York

17-19 April: Hong Kong (World Championship Series, Round 1)

29-31 May: Valladolid (World Championship Series, Round 2)

5-7 June: Bordeaux (World Championship Series, Round 3)