Snyman: Blitzboks’ true colours glittered in Los Angeles

Springbok Sevens head coach Philip Snyman heaped praise on his squad after a commanding weekend of sevens rugby displayed at the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles, with the Blitzboks finishing as the only undefeated side and crowned winners on Sunday.

Strong performances on day one at Dignity Health Sports Park saw pool victories over France, Great Britain and Argentina and the Blitzboks outplayed New Zealand and Spain on the second day to lift the World Championship trophy for the first time.

“This team delivered an amazing performance over the weekend,” said Snyman.

“The players deserve so much credit for the way they played here in Los Angeles. We had some good parts and some bad parts to our season but this weekend we got it all together and that is a very satisfying feeling.

“Any coach will tell you that your plan can only be as good as the buy-in from the players and then their execution thereof. This weekend it all come together.

“They really stuck to our plan but also importantly, played the moments when it was there to exploit. They did some exceptional things on the field during this tournament and all the credit must go to them.

“Some of those moments of brilliance by the players in the final made this a special win.”

Snyman said the weekend proved that the Blitzboks are back to where they should be: “This performance was proof of the potential of this squad. The players executed their roles so well, there was a common belief in what is possible and how to achieve that and the result is there for them to enjoy now.

“This performance finally completes the puzzle for us, and what a beautiful picture we got. This was the true colours of Springbok Sevens and I cannot be prouder of what it represented and displayed this weekend.”

The Blitzbok coach also reflected on the big moments of the weekend and said they “were up for it”.

“Our defence was great, the attack worked so well, while there was this hunger in each player to use this tournament to make up for the disappointing ones we had along the way,” he said.

Blitzbok captain Selvyn Davids said the effort during the weekend made him very proud.

“The guys left everything out there on the field, we gave it our all,” he said. “That is just an amazing feeling. We fought for each other, and we fought for the badge and knowing that we achieved that was already a win for me.”

The one lesson learned from this season is that consistency is key to everything, according to Davids: “The consistency we lacked during the year prevented us from reaching our full potential as a team. This tournament we managed to maintain the same level of excellence and that proved gold for us.”

Davids, who was named Player of the Final, insisted that the performance over the weekend was a complete team effort.

“The format of only eight teams was always going to be demanding, but we managed to stay in the moment in each game,” said Davids. “We had some dark spots during matches, but every time someone did something special to make that disappear. Everyone just focussed on the next job and got it done. I am so proud of this.”

The squad will arrive back in South Africa on Tuesday.

New Zealand women were crowned HSBC SVNS 2025 champions along with the Blitzboks after securing stirring victories at the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles.

South Africa claimed their fifth men’s Series title and first since 2021 by beating a valiant Spanish side 19-5 to bring down the curtain on the 2025 international rugby sevens season.

Davids scored the opening try from deep to break the deadlock. Spain's captain Pol Pla brought his team to within two points with a fine try but Mfundo Ndhlovu extended South Africa's advantage and Ricardo Duarttee scored in the dying seconds.

Snyman said: "The team never stopped believing. They played five phenomenal games and were unstoppable. This team can go places. I am very proud of them."

The Springbok Sevens team saved their best for last to win the final tournament of the season, with victory over Spain in the final wrapping up a flawless weekend in California.

The Blitzboks were determined on defence and clinical on attack against a plucky Spain to win their second title of the 2025 season, after raising the trophy in Cape Town in December 2024.

They managed to keep Spain away from their tryline with solid defence and when in possession, struck when it mattered and even managed to score when down to six men following a late yellow card to Zander Reynders.

The performance in the final wrapped up a magnificent effort at the tournament, where the Blitzboks had no peers and hard as Spain tried, they had no answers to unlock the determination of their opponents to not let them get past them.

After four minutes of defence, South Africa struck when Davids stepped past the Spanish defence for a brilliant solo try.

A long spell of possession by Spain was left in ruins as - from a rare moment with ball in hand at that stage - Davids attacked from a scrum 80m out and ran almost the length of the field. Ronald Brown converted for a 7-0 lead, which was the half-time score as well.

Relentless defence forced Spain into mistakes and they battled to get into the South African half bar their early attack in the opening spell.

The second half had more of the same. Spain had most of the ball and attacked from all corners but stout defence forced them backwards and into mistakes.

They were finally rewarded when Quewin Nortje was beaten by a delayed pass and Pol Pla scored from 50m out. Davids cut the Spanish speedster off, forced him to score out wide and the conversion missed, keeping South Africa in the lead.

The turning point came soon after when Ndhlovu, who last played in Cape Town in December, outfoxed a rushing defence and then raced away from inside the SA 22 to score. Brown converted and at 14-5 and two minutes to play, the advantage was with the Blitzboks.

Reynders caused some heartache was he was yellow carded from the restart, leaving the team one man short for the remainder of the match, but that didn't matter. Siviwe Soyizwapi showed his experience with a crucial turnover, with his team under pressure and a man down, which handed possession back to SA.

Duarttee sealed the deal after close combat with the Spanish and a probing Tristan Leyds run found some gaps and momentum from where Duarttee pounced.

Blitzbok coach Philip Snyman praised the players afterwards, saying that their willingness to keep working made the win possible.

Earlier, the Blitzboks kept their hot streak going following pool wins against France, Great Britain and Argentina, outscoring New Zealand by four tries to one and never giving the Kiwi side a look-in at all with a 26-5 win in their semi-final.

Shilton van Wyk opened the scoring in the first minute, pouncing on a loose pass from New Zealand after a line-out, kicking ahead and winning the race to the line. Brown converted for a 7-0 lead.

The second try by South Africa was more structured but still a thing of beauty. Davids delayed his pass from a tap penalty and Nortje could race in to score under the sticks. Brown converted and the lead was 14-0 after four minutes of play.

The rampant Blitzboks scored a third try before the half-time buzzer when some crisp passing and hard running gave Van Wyk a second try in the opening seven minutes. Brown, whose pass freed up Van Wyk, converted from the sideline for a 21-0 lead.

The second half start was equally impressive. Brown's spot-on cross-kick found Nortje in the corner for his second try, despite having his shirt ripped in two, to push the lead to 26-0.

New Zealand finally managed a play of note three minutes into the second half with a good move from within their half to score but it was too little too late.

Scores

South Africa 26 (21) New Zealand 5 (0)

SA - Tries: Shilton van Wyk (2), Quewin Nortje (2). Conversions: Ronald Brown (3).

NZ - Try: Frank Vaenuku.

South Africa 19 (7) Spain 5 (0)

SA - Tries: Selvyn Davids, Mfundo Ndhlovu, Ricardo Duarttee. Conversions: Ronald Brown, Tristan Leyds.

Spain - Try: Pol Pla.

Spain were ranked 10th in 2024 and have never won a Series event so silver medals represent impressive progress.

The women’s final featured Olympic gold medallists New Zealand and reigning SVNS champions Australia who have played out some epic encounters over this SVNS Series.

New Zealand added more silverware to their collection as they beat Australia for the fourth time in a row to win the World Championship

Already SVNS League winners, they proved too strong for a young but immensely talented Australia team. HSBC Player of the Match Jorja Miller scored a marvellous try to get her team going, picking up from her own 22 to score her 29th of the season and the Black Ferns Sevens went on to show their dominance with a 31-7 final score.

New Zealand captain Sarah Hirini said: "Man, that feels good. After the Olympic gold medal we wanted to show we are a great team and to us that was winning the League and winning the (World Championship) Series and we did it."

New Zealand overcame SVNS league winners Argentina 38-17 to take men’s bronze, while hosts the USA were unable to replicate their Olympic bronze medal winning exploits on home soil as they were beaten 27-7 by Olympic silver medallists Canada in the women’s bronze medal match.

Beside the World Championship action, the HSBC SVNS Play-off competition saw the teams ranked ninth to twelfth in HSBC SVNS 2025 vying with the top four ranked teams from the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger for four qualification spots to HSBC SVNS Division two in 2026.

The pool winners secured their SVNS division two status automatically with Brazil and China women and USA and Uruguay men securing their spots thanks to a hat-trick of pool wins.

Meanwhile the teams who finished second and third in their pools faced a winner-takes all Play-off final match on Sunday for a place in SVNS division two.

Both Kenya’s teams were successful, with the men beating Canada 24-5 and the women overcoming South Africa 17-14, to delight their large contingent of fans inside the stadium.

The Springbok Women's Sevens team's hearts were broken with a late defeat against Kenya, meaning they will have to qualify for Division 2 next season.

The close defeat in the play-off means the Bok Women Sevens will have to revert to the regional route to qualify for the new second-tier competition next season, with China, Brazil, Argentina and Spain progressing from the LA tournament.

South Africa still held a 14-10 lead with a minute left on the clock but with a one-player advantage after Alicia Willemse was red carded for a dangerous tackle, Kenya scored to seal a third win over their African foes this season.

The match started well for the Bok Women. A spilled ball by Kenya two minutes in resulted in Nadine Roos scoring a runaway try and her conversion handed them a 7-0 lead.

Kenya responded well though and scored from a turnover for their first points of the match, courtesy of a try by Freshia Oduor. The conversion was wide and that kept the SA side in the lead but that changed when the East Africans went ahead on the scoreboard just before the break though when Sharon Auma scored for a 10-7 lead.

A yellow card to Kenya after a high tackle to Simamkele Namba handed SA a chance to take the lead back but a poor pass to Maria Tshiremba cancelled the advantage of having an extra player on attack.

The second half effort to use the extra player worked better with Shiniqwa Lamprecht being put in space with some crisp passing and running hard for their second try and the lead. Roos converted for a 14-10 lead.

Willemse was red carded with five minutes left that left the South African player motionless on the pitch, and with two minutes to play, Kenya had the numbers and the aces, as Oduor stepped inside her defender to score in the final minute of play.

The Bok Women had one more attacking opportunity from the restart but a forward pass ruined the trip to LA for them.

Earlier on Sunday, the South Africans showed massive resilience to fight back for a well-deserved 17-14 victory (half-time 7-7) over Argentina in their final pool match.

A strong start by the Bok Women, pushing Argentina back with some strong defence, saw Ayanda Malinga cross for the first try of the match, but thereafter they lost their way a bit, conceding a string of penalties - and a yellow card to Zandile Masuku - to allow the South Americans back into the match.

With Masuku off the field, Sofia Gonzalez and Maria Taladrid scored on either side of the break to take a 14-7 lead and the Bok Women looked a bit rattled as they were stuck in their own half of the field.

With Argentina hot on the attack, Roos forced a turnover in the SA 22 and sent Tshiremba away for a try 85m downfield to make it a two-point game.

From the restart, the South Africans applied massive pressure and after a few penalties against Argentina, Leigh Fortuin finally crashed over for the winning try more than a minute after the full-time buzzer had sounded.

Scores

South Africa 17 (7) Argentina 14 (7)

SA - Tries: Ayanda Malinga, Maria Tshiremba, Leigh Fortuin. Conversion: Nadine Roos.

Argentina - Tries: Sofia Gonzalez, Maria Taladrid. Conversions: Gonzalez (2).

South Africa 14 (7) Kenya 17 (10)

SA - Tries: Nadine Roos, Shiniqwa Lamprecht. Conversions: Roos (2).

Kenya - Tries: Freshia Oduor (2), Sharon Auma. Conversion: Sinaida Nyachio.

Germany produced perhaps the outstanding performance to thrash Samoa 31-0 and claim the last remaining men’s spot, while Spain’s women saw off Argentina 28-0 to secure their place.

The unsuccessful Play-off teams will begin the 2026 season in their respective regional competitions from which they have the opportunity to qualify for a standalone SVNS division three event, where they can reach SVNS division two by finishing in the top two. From there teams will have the opportunity to progress all the way through to the three HSBC SVNS World Championships Series events in the same season.

World Rugby Chair Brett Robinson, who was in attendance in Los Angeles, said: “LA delivered a finale to savour in what has been a season to remember. The HSBC SVNS World Championship demonstrated sport at its enthralling, brilliant and emotional best with teams and fans experiencing the highs and lows of play-off rugby. Congratulations to our worthy champions New Zealand and South Africa, and to all the teams, match officials and event teams who have made this season so special.

“We now look ahead to a new era for Sevens and a new competition model that provides certainty and opportunity on the road to what promises to be a spectacular LA 2028 Olympic Games.”