Blitzboks were not clinical enough in Spain – Snyman

Springbok Sevens head coach Philip Snyman was adamant that the Blitzboks were their own worst enemies in the HSBC SVNS Valladolid final, where they were outplayed 26-19 by Australia in a pulsating match.

For Snyman, the slow start earlier in the tournament contributed to the result in the final, as the South Africans never played the rugby that they are capable of.

“Australia were deserved winners tonight,” said Snyman.

“They used their opportunities better in the final and deserved the win – they played very good rugby all tournament long.”

Snyman believes that the TMO call at the end of the match, that disallowed what would have been a try by South Africa to level the scores, was par for the course: “Sevens is brutal and so are the margins sometimes. We also had other opportunities, which we did not use, that one pass was not the reason we did not win.”

Snyman said his team played some of their best rugby on Sunday but he was not happy with some of the performances on the first two days.

“Yes, we did very well at stages (on Sunday) but we will have to revisit those areas where we did not do as well as we should have,” he said.

“Earlier in the tournament We were not at our best and will have a look at that. We still made it to the final though, as tough as it is to get to that stage of the competition, so from that perspective, I am pleased.

“You are supposed to set the standard on day one and pick up the momentum from there but we did not quite do that and in fact struggled on the first two days.”

Snyman said they were just not clinical enough and that they needed more possession: “We need to look better after our ball. In the final, we missed too many tackles and that got them back into the game.

“Playing in six consecutive finals is great but this one was not our best, so we need to come back stronger.”

Australia fought their way back from an early 14-0 deficit against South Africa to win 26-19. James Turner and Ethan McFarland erasing the Blitzboks’ first-half advantage before the break, and Ben Dowling and Henry Hutchison handing them an unassailable second-half lead, despite the best late efforts of Gino Cupido.

Player of the final Hutchison believes his side are heading in the right direction, after they claimed their first title of the sevens season. “I feel like the group is in a really good place,” he said. “We know we’re not consistently the best in the world, but we’re knocking at the door and that’s where we want to be at the moment.

“It's a huge amount of growth from last season and during this season – the challenge for us is to now continue that growth northwards.”

Argentina, who have stepped up a gear in the HSBC SVNS World Championship phase of the season, beat Fiji 28-17 in the third-place play-off.

Australia, South Africa and Argentina have wrapped up three of the eight available places on the main HSBC SVNS Series next season, leaving the remaining sides to battle for the five open slots next weekend in Bordeaux.

Australia’s women shook off their shock pool phase loss to USA on day two to claim the title with a dominant performance against the same opponents in the final and leapfrog New Zealand at the top of the HSBC SVNS World Championship table.

Having stunned New Zealand with a comeback win in the last four of an appetite-whetting opening match on the final day in Valladolid, Australia finished the job with a comprehensive performance in the final to lift the trophy in north-west Spain. Faith Nathan and player of the final Heidi Dennis both scored twice to record an impressive 27-14 win in the showpiece match.

Captain Isabella Nasser, however, refused to let her winning team rest on their laurels after their first tournament victory since their win in Dubai back at the start of the HSBC SVNS Series.

“Obviously, the job’s not done,” she said immediately after the final in north-west Spain. “We’ve got next week in Bordeaux to do, so (we have to) recover hard, train hard in the week and then hopefully put on a good performance next week.”

The Black Ferns Sevens bounced back to claim third, Kelsey Teneti scoring five of their eight tries in a dominant 50-14 win over Canada. Their performances in Spain ensured Australia, USA and New Zealand retain their places on the main HSBC SVNS Series next season.

Meanwhile, next weekend's Bordeaux draw has delivered match-ups to savour.

Australia will face Japan, Fiji and Brazil, while their male counterparts take on Spain, USA and Uruguay.

World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin has made the draw for the third and final leg of this year’s HSBC SVNS World Championship series in Bordeaux, on 5-7 June.

After double glory in Valladolid both Australia’s men’s and women’s sides will have it all to do one last time this season in Bordeaux next weekend after the pools for the deciding HSBC SVNS World Championship Series tournament were drawn on the sideline

Australia’s women’s side will want to double down on their first title since Dubai in the heart of France’s wine country and will kick off their Bordeaux challenge against Japan, Fiji and Brazil in Pool B.

Finalists USA face a Valladolid semi-final repeat against Canada, as well as matches against Spain and Great Britain in Pool C; and New Zealand take on hosts France, South Africa and Argentina in Pool A

Australia’s Valladolid-winning men’s male team face Spain, USA and Uruguay in Pool B at the Stade Atlantique.

Beaten finalists South Africa will look to bounce back with a strong Pool A run against Fiji, Kenya and Great Britain, while Argentina will play New Zealand, France and Germany in Pool C.

Scores

Final: South Africa 19 (14), Australia 26 (14)

SA – Tries: Shilton van Wyk, Sebastiaan Jobb, Gino Cupido. Conversions: Tristan Leyds (2).

Australia – Tries: James Turner, Ethan Mcfarland, Ben Dowling, Henry Hutchison. Conversions: Maurice Longbottom (3).

Semi-final: South Africa 19 (5), Argentina 7 (7)

SA - Tries: Sebastiaan Jobb, Ricardo Duarttee, Ryan Oosthuizen. Conversions: Duarttee (2).

Argentina – Try: Santiago Vera Feld. Conversion: Vera Feld.

HSBC SVNS World Championship standings

1 South Africa – 38 pts

2 Argentina – 34

3 Australia – 30

4 Fiji – 26

5 Spain – 26

6 New Zealand – 26

7 France – 14

8 Kenya – 14

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 - SA/NZL

7-8 March: Vancouver - SA/NZL

14-15 March: New York - SA/NZL

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

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

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