Blitzboks finish disappointing fourth in Singapore

The Springbok Sevens finished in fourth place at the HSBC SVNS Singapore on Sunday, following two agonizingly close defeats – to France and New Zealand – in the National Stadium in the semi-final and third-place play-offs.

Against France, the South Africans just could not score the try they needed to draw level and they went down by 12-5, while against New Zealand, one unsuccessful conversion determined the 14-12 result.

On Saturday, the Blitzboks were edged by a ‘golden try’ by Fiji in extra-time of their final pool game, which was indicative of the type of weekend for South Africa as they were on the wrong side of paper-thin margins and paid the price for some erratic performances over the two days of play.

A slow start and some unforced errors resulted in the Blitzboks trailing 12-0 at half-time of their semi-final but despite dominating the second half, they could not overhaul the French.

France scored first two minutes in when an inside pass to their captain, Paulin Riva, left him in open space and he ran in for a converted try and a 7-0 lead, before some slack defence from a line-out by the Blitzboks found them short on numbers and the Europeans increased their lead to 12-0.

The French had a clear tactic on attack with back passes and that found a chink in the South African armour. To add to their woes, the Blitzboks played the half out with a yellow card to Ricardo Duarttee.

South Africa came out firing in the second half with Christie Grobbelaar scoring from a Siviwe Soyizwapi pass and the lead was cut to seven points, despite being a man down.

The rest of the half proved frustrating as several chances were not taken. They came desperately close when Duarttee lost the ball with the tryline in touching distance and although the Blitzboks refused to give up, it was not going to be the night for a consecutive tournament win.

South Africa suffered their third consecutive defeat, this time in the third-placed match against New Zealand, again with a successful conversion standing between the two sides. It was a proper rugby match, where both sides had the ball for long spells, but determined defence held sway.

New Zealand scored first when Kele Lasaqa stepped inside two South Africans to race away and the conversion handed them a 7-0 lead.

The Blitzboks kept the pressure up on attack and Tristan Leyds scored after selling a dummy to the NZ defence. The conversion went wide and at the break, two points separated the sides.

The second half was equally spellbinding, with both teams trying their best to score first, only to be stopped by determined defence.

The Blitzboks took the lead after a good try by Sebastiaan Jobb from a slick backline move before the wing finished well.

The conversion was good and their lead was 12-7, but with less than a minute to go, NZ speedster Michael Manson hacked ahead and outsprinted the cover defence to score. The conversion made it 14-12 and although the Blitzboks had one more go, NZ stood firm to secure third place.

Springbok Sevens head coach Philip Snyman expressed frustration and disappointment in his team’s fourth-place finish at the HSBC SVNS Singapore on Sunday.

“It was certainly not our best performance in a while,” said Snyman about Sunday’s matches.

“There was no lack of effort out there but our execution and decision making were not up to standard, and we paid the price for that”

South Africa dropped from top of the standings to third on the log on 46 points after the weekend, where Fiji won their first tournament of the 2026 world series to move to the top of the table (52 points), with New Zealand now in second place (48 points).

Snyman pointed to a number of areas where they did not meet their usual high standards but refused to blame the lack of experience in the squad to the overall result.

“There was a risk in bringing a couple of players with very little if any tournament experiences under the belt but we are working towards squad depth as well,” he said.

“I was happy with the efforts of Luan Giliomee (debut) and Nabo Sakoyo (one tournament). We anticipated that it could affect us a little, but overall, we were just not good enough.

“The plus points are that those younger players now experienced yet another tournament and Luan, playing in his first tournament, experienced what it is to play against Fiji, France and New Zealand for example.

“We are now heading to Perth where we will work on those deficiencies in our execution. We have an internal scorecard on our team standards, and we will revisit that to remind ourselves what we stand for and what our standards are as the Springbok Sevens team.”

According to the Blitzbok coach, the lack of decision-making and clinical finishing were the biggest disappointments: “We created so many opportunities but hardly took any of them and with the margins in this series, that is going to affect the final results. We were poor in both areas.”

Snyman said the lack of discipline was another area where they will need to look in the mirror.

“We conceded two yellow cards against Fiji, that is not how you beat them,” said Snyman.

“Also, we conceded possession too easily and too often, so we could not build any cohesion on attack. We want to play a very fast game in order to make our opponents tired, but to do that you need to have the ball. We simply did not look after our possession well enough.”

Fiji edged out France 21-12 in a thrilling final to sign off the Singapore leg of the HSBC SVNS Series in typically dramatic fashion. The French fought hard throughout but it was Fijian flair that won the day as they capped a brilliant weekend in style.

France charged into a 12-0 interval lead with tries from Jordan Sepho and Riva. But Fiji, blessed with so many attacking options, steadied themselves and roared back to take the title with tries from Viwa Naduvalo, Kavekini Tanivanuakula and Pilipo Bukayaro.

Player of the match Naduvalo said: “First of all I want to thank the Lord Almighty for giving us the victory. “Credit to the boys for giving their effort – we work together as a unit and we came up with the win.” It was Fiji’s first title of the season but their second in a row in Singapore, a city they enjoy playing in.

Naduvalo added: “I made my debut here, so it’s like playing at home. Yes, Singapore is a great place to play.”

Captain Jeremaia Matana echoed his teammate’s sentiments after their third comeback win of the weekend, following previous successes over South Africa and New Zealand. An emotional Matana said: “It’s amazing and I want to give the glory and honour to the Man above. I’m so happy and proud of the boys. We came back strongly and I want to thank the boys for their hard work.”

In the women’s competition, New Zealand beat fierce rivals Australia 36-7 in the final of the HSBC SVNS Series, which secured their third successive title in Singapore. In a sport built on rivalries, these two powerhouses had met in the previous two finals this season with New Zealand title winners in Dubai before Australia reigned supreme in Cape Town.

The Black Ferns Sevens took the honours in a city where they continue to make themselves at home ahead of next weekend's tournament in Perth, Australia.

It was a poignant victory for New Zealand and an apt tribute to honour the memory of those who died in the recent landslides at Mount Maunganui. This tragedy is close to home with the womens and men's teams based on New Zealand’s North Island.

The platform for victory was set with clinical braces from Jazmin Felix-Hotham and Jorja Miller, two players who have illuminated the tournament in Singapore, and a try from Mahina Paul.

Bienne Terita hit back for Australia but Katelyn Vahaakolo added another try for the Black Ferns Sevens to end the weekend with their fifth straight win. There was much to admire in New Zealand’s performance as they capped a superb stay in Singapore which has seen them score 218 points overall.

Two-try Miller, the player of the final, said: “I’m so stoked and proud of the girls. It’s been an awesome atmosphere in a beautiful city.”

Captain Risi Pouri-Lane proudly declared: “Every single one of the girls stepped up this weekend. I’m so proud of them and really stoked for the team. Defence is best part of the game but we’ve got another tournament in Perth next weekend. Things can change quickly, but we want to do it all over again.”

Meanwhile, Canada clinched third place after beating USA 24-19 courtesy of the mercurial Olivia Apps’ dramatic extra-time winner, while France finished fifth.

Following an action-packed showdown in Singapore in front of 40 000 fans across the weekend, the draw for the fourth round in Perth was made by English rugby international, Danny Care.

It has thrown up some exciting encounters and the prospect of more than one upset. Newly-crowned men’s champions Fiji will take on South Africa, Spain and Argentina in Pool A when the tournament gets under way in Australia next weekend. Losing finalists France, meanwhile, head a tough-looking Pool B that includes New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain.

In the women’s competition, Singapore champions New Zealand have been pitted against USA, Fiji and Japan in Pool A when the HSBC SVNS resumes down under next weekend. Beaten Singapore finalists Australia will face Canada, France and Great Britain in Pool B.

Scores

South Africa 5 (0), France 12 (12)

SA – Try: Christie Grobbelaar.

France - Tries: Paulin Riva, Simon Desert. Conversion: Riva.

South Africa 12 (5), New Zealand 14 (7)

SA – Tries: Tristan Leyds, Sebastiaan Jobb. Conversion: Leyds.

NZ – Tries: Kele Lasaqa, Michael Manson. Conversions: Sofai Notoa-Tipo, Riley Williams.

2026 HSBC SVNS schedule

29-30 November: Dubai - NZL/NZL

6-7 December: Cape Town - SA/AUS

31 January-1 February: Singapore FIJI/NZL

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)