Brilliant Blitzboks secure history in Hong Kong

The Springbok Sevens squad ended their long wait for Hong Kong glory, and for the first time since the inception of the HSBC SVNS Series in 1999, they claimed gold at the most iconic of tournaments that celebrates 50 years of sevens in 2026. And what a way to do it, as the Blitzboks completed theirSVNS World Championshipopener with a commanding 35-7 victory over Argentina, outscoring their opponents five tries to one in the final. They scored two beautiful tries in the first half and completed their perfect performance with another three five-pointers in the second half, with Selvyn Davids bagging two.

To add to the faultless performance, all five tries were converted. Also, it was not only a first Hong Kong win ever but also a fifth title this season and the Blitzboks’ fourth in a row, with the previous three coming in the recently completed SVNS tournaments in Perth, Vancouver, and New York. It was a true seven-man effort for 14 minutes.

Tristan Leyds played like a wizard, Selvyn Davids was his magical self, Shilton van Wyk and Sebatiaan Jobb ran like never before, and in between, the forwards grafted like only Impi Visser, Ryan Oosthuizen and Zain Davids can. Leyds scored first after a kick into space and Selvyn Davids waltzed through for the second. Argentina pulled one back when Santino Zangara scored, but after the break, the excellence continued.

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Quewin Nortje, Ronald Brown, and Jayden Nell came on in the second half and kept up the competitive excellence, not to mention 10-year tournament veteran and leader Siviwe Soyizwapi, who scored his first try on debut in 2016 and, a decade later, helped his team to this exceptional moment. Leyds was named player of the final and he fully deserved it, running 70m for the opener and delivered a perfect kick to send Shilton van Wyk over for his second half try. Defending on the wing, he hardly missed a beat and every Los Pumas player was tackled into the Kai Tak Sports Park pitch.

A mention also for Donavan Don and David Brits, both of whom were ruled out of the final due to injuries, but equally worthy of the long awaited and seemingly elusive Hong Kong gold medal. Earlier on Sunday, the Blitzboks raced into a 26-0 lead in their semifinal against New Zealand, which they eventually won 26-14 after two late tries by the Kiwis when the deal was already done. They played with precision and pace, but more importantly serious defence. The bigger New Zealand attackers made the mistake of looking for bodies to run into, but the Blitzboks were excellent on the ground and got several turnovers and penalties.

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