Blitzbok head coach Philip Snyman congratulated the Springbok Sevens ‘A’ squad for their effort and application as they claimed the Rugby Africa Sevens Cup in Port Louis on Sunday.
The South Africans won the Mauritius tournament, played at the Labourdonnais Sports Club over the weekend, with a 26-12 victory over Madagascar in the final. Earlier on Sunday, they beat Zimbabwe 19-12 in the semi-finals, and defending champions, Uganda, 26-0 in the quarter-finals.
“This was a good effort, and I am happy with the way the squad applied themselves and executed their duties,” said Snyman.
“We had eight players who are uncapped at HSBC SVNS level and they all fitted into the system and the team as the tournament took shape. We wanted to give those players proper match time as it does take a tournament or three before you are ready for the world series and they responded well.
“The African teams are very physical which is always a tough challenge and then we encountered Madagascar – who play like Fiji with their offloads – in the final, so that was a valuable learning curve for the new players.
“There are other dynamics as well that they had to overcome – how to get going on day two with a sore body, how to plan and adapt for each opponent in the knock-out phases and then how to deliver your best effort in a final. Those are all things they have encountered and will be better because of it.”
Snyman said the tournament was a perfect way to finish off their season: “We finished strong and ticked our boxes here. This was a well-organised event and credit must go to Rugby Africa and the Mauritius Rugby Union for the way the tournament went. We could not have closed out our 2025 season in a better way, knowing that we got so much out of this event.”
Sebastiaan Jobb, one of the team’s co-captains, was equally proud of the effort and said it was a tough tournament.
“The hot conditions and physical approach by the other teams meant that we had to dig deep and apply ourselves and the guys did that really well and that is something everyone in the squad can be proud of,” said Jobb.
“The African teams have a very physical way they play sevens and our guys adapted well to that, something that will be needed when you progress to the world series. So well done to all of them.”
Mfundo Ndhlovu, who co-captained with Jobb, said the approach from management was spot on: “We came into this tournament as if it was part of the world series, with the same programme, detail and feedback and that was valuable for the new players, as they could get a proper understanding of what will be demanded of them once they play for the Blitzboks.
“They have a proper understanding now of what a week and for that matter, a weekend of sevens, are all about and well done to them for getting the details right,” Ndhlovu added.
In the final against Madagascar, South Africa started well and executed their try scoring opportunities, but two long range tries by the Makis kept them in the game.
Jayden Nell opened the scoring after a good, angled run resulted in him breaking the line after two minutes, and when Ricardo Duarttee converted, the lead was 7-0.
Ndhlovu stepped inside his man soon after to extend the lead. Gideon van Wyk ran hard and from the resulting ruck, the SA co-captain scored. Duarttee’s conversion handed them a 14-0.
Madagascar came back with a lovely long range try with several offloads getting the better of the SA defence, but the 14-point lead was restored from the restart as Van Wyk again ran well before setting Duarttee free to score and convert to make it 21-7 lead at the break.
Madagascar scored another long-range try that had the crowd on their feet early in the second half to bring them back into the contest, but Nell had the last say with the final try. Jobb kicked ahead after a good run and regathered before offloading to Nell for the final nail in the coffin.
Earlier in the day, the SA side outplayed Uganda, the defending Rugby Africa Sevens champions, 26-0 in the quarter-finals. Jobb scored three tries and later added a double in the semi-final against Zimbabwe, with a 19-12 win booking South Africa’s spot in the final.
On the opening day, the SA side had a slow start, but once the combinations clicked, positive results followed. They opened their Pool B fixtures with a 17-5 win over Nigeria, before two tries in quick succession by Ndhlovu broke Zambia’s back in their 33-14 win. Scores were tied at 14-14 at one stage, but the Boks pulled away after Ndhlovu’s interventions. Jobb scored three tries in the 31-0 win over Burkina Faso in the final pool match.
Sweetness
The modern game was born at a school in Warwickshire – Rugby’s most widely accepted origin takes us back to 1839, where a Warwickshire Rugby School student, William Webb Ellis, came up with the game by picking up a regular football and charging at the opposing team’s goal. A formal set of rules would be made later that year. Also, another interesting fact about rugby for you – the Rugby World Cup trophy is called the William Webb Ellis trophy after the man who invented the game!
Slug-em-dog
Chris Martin and B.S Chandrasekhar have taken more Test wickets in their career than the test runs they scored.