South Africa national rugby sevens team

South Africa
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nicknames
  • Springbok Sevens
  • Blitzboks
  • Blitzbokke
EmblemSpringbok
UnionSouth African Rugby Union
Head coachPhilip Snyman
CaptainSelvyn Davids
Most capsBranco du Preez (85) (Most Tournament Caps)
Top scorerCecil Afrika (1,430)
Top try scorerSeabelo Senatla (224)
First colours
Second colours
Rugby World Cup Sevens
Appearances8 (first in 1993)
Best resultRunners-up (1997)

The South African national rugby sevens team, commonly known as the Springbok Sevens,[1] competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. Overall, the team has won the World Rugby Sevens Series 4 times, as well as having won 40 tournaments in the series.

History

After readmission to international sport following the ending of the apartheid ban, the team played their first sevens tournament in the 1993 Hong Kong Sevens, and also participated in the 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens. They also played in the Hong Kong Sevens for the next two seasons. In 1996, they also took part in the Punta Del Este Sevens in Uruguay and the Dubai Sevens.

They participated in the 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens the following year as well as in 1998, they played three South American tournaments – the Mar Del Plata Sevens in Argentina, the Punta Del Este Sevens and the Viña del Mar Sevens in Chile. 1999 saw them participate in the Mar Del Plata Sevens, the Santiago Sevens in Chile, the Fiji Sevens, the Hong Kong Sevens, the Japan Sevens and the Paris Sevens.

At the end of 1999, the first World Rugby Sevens Series (then the IRB Sevens World Series) started and the team have been participating in that series ever since. In addition to the Sevens Series, they also played in the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Commonwealth Games, the World Games and, from 2016 onwards, the Olympic Games.

The team's nickname, "Blitzboks", is derived from "blitz" an Afrikaans word meaning lightning, and the derivative of Springbok ("Bok"), the official emblem of the South African rugby team.

Kit

Sponsors on kit

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2004–2011 Canterbury SASOL
2011–2014 Absa
2014–2016 Asics
2016–2018 Steinhoff
2018–2022 Castle Lager
2022–2023 WeBuyCars
2023–2025 Nike
2025–Present FNB

Tournament history

World Rugby Sevens Series

Series Record

Season Position
1999–00 5th
2000–01 5th
2001–02 2nd
2002–03 4th
2003–04 5th
2004–05 4th
2005–06 3rd
2006–07 4th
2007–08 2nd
2008–09 1st
2009–10 6th
2010–11 2nd
2011–12 5th
2012–13 2nd
2013–14 2nd
2014–15 2nd
2015–16 2nd
2016–17 1st
2017–18 1st
2018–19 4th
2019–20 2nd
2021 1st
2021–22 2nd
2022–23 7th
2023–24 7th
2024–25 4th
2025–26 1st
Total -

Grand Final Record

Event Position
2024 6th
2025 1st
Total -


Series tournament wins

South Africa won the following tournaments on the Sevens World Series since its inception in 1999–2000:

48 Tournament wins up to 19 April 2026

Cup wins
Season Tournament Final opponent Score
2001–02 2002 Wellington Sevens Samoa 17–14
2002–03 2003 Cardiff Sevens Argentina 35–17
2003–04 2003 Dubai Sevens New Zealand 33–26
2004 Singapore Sevens Argentina 24–19
2004–05 2005 London Sevens England 21–12
2005–06 2006 Paris Sevens Samoa 33–12
2006–07 2006 Dubai Sevens New Zealand 31–12
2007–08 2008 Adelaide Sevens New Zealand 15–7
2008–09 2008 Dubai Sevens England 19–12
2008 South Africa Sevens New Zealand 12–7
2009 Adelaide Sevens Kenya 26–7
2010–11 2011 USA Sevens Fiji 24–14
2011 London Sevens Fiji 24–14
2011 Edinburgh Sevens Australia 36–35
2012–13 2013 USA Sevens New Zealand 40–21
2013 Japan Sevens New Zealand 24–19
2013 Scotland Sevens New Zealand 28–21
2013–14 2013 South Africa Sevens New Zealand 17–14
2014 USA Sevens New Zealand 14–7
2014–15 2014 Dubai Sevens Australia 33–7
2014 South Africa Sevens New Zealand 26–17
2015–16 2015 South Africa Sevens Argentina 29–14
2016–17 2016 Dubai Sevens Fiji 26–14
2017 Wellington Sevens Fiji 26–5
2017 Sydney Sevens England 29–14
2017 USA Sevens Fiji 19–12
2017 Paris Sevens Scotland 15–5
2017–18 2017 Dubai Sevens New Zealand 24–12
2018 Paris Sevens England 24–14
2018–19 2019 Canada Sevens France 21–12
2019 Singapore Sevens Fiji 20–19
2019–20 2019 Dubai Sevens New Zealand 15–0
2020 USA Sevens Fiji 29–24
(a.e.t.)
2021 2021 Vancouver Sevens Kenya

38–5

2021 Edmonton Sevens Great Britain 24–12
2021–22 2021 Dubai Sevens Event I United States 42–7
2021 Dubai Sevens Event II Australia 10–7
2022 Málaga Sevens Argentina 24–17
2022 Seville Sevens Australia 33–7
2022–23 2022 Dubai Sevens Ireland 21–5
2023–24 2023 Dubai Sevens Argentina 12–7
2024–25 2024 South Africa Sevens France 26–14
2025 USA Sevens Spain 19–5
2025–26 2025 South Africa Sevens

Argentina || 21–19

2026 Australia Sevens Fiji 21–19
2026 Canada Sevens Spain 38–12
2026 USA Sevens Fiji 10–7
2026 Hong Kong Sevens Argentina 35–7

Quadrennial tournaments

Summer Olympics

Olympic Games record
Year Round Position Pld W L D
Brazil 2016 Bronze medal match 3rd 6 4 2 0
Japan 2020 Fifth place match 5th 6 5 1 0
France 2024 Bronze medal match 3rd 6 3 3 0
Total 0 Titles 2/2 18 12 6 0


Olympic Games History
2016 Pool stage South Africa  24 – 0  Spain Win
South Africa  26 – 0  France Win
South Africa  5 – 12  Australia Loss
Quarterfinals South Africa  22 – 5  Australia Win
Semifinals South Africa  7 – 5  Great Britain Loss
Bronze Medal Match South Africa  54 – 14  Japan Win
2020 Pool stage South Africa  33 – 14  Ireland Win
South Africa  14 – 5  Kenya Win
South Africa  17 – 12  United States Win
Quarterfinals South Africa  14 – 19  Argentina Loss
5th Place Semifinals South Africa  22 – 19  Australia Win
5th Place Match South Africa  28 – 7  United States Win
2024 Pool stage South Africa  5 – 10  Ireland Loss
South Africa  5 – 17  New Zealand Loss
South Africa  49 – 5  Japan Win
Quarterfinals South Africa  14 – 7  New Zealand Win
Semifinals South Africa  5 – 19  France Loss
Bronze Medal Match South Africa  26 – 19  Australia Win

Rugby World Cup Sevens

World Cup Sevens record
Year Round Position Played Won Lost Drew
Scotland 1993 Quarterfinals 5th 8 6 2 0
Hong Kong 1997 Final 2nd 7 6 1 0
Argentina 2001 Quarterfinals 5th 6 5 1 0
Hong Kong 2005 Quarterfinals 5th 6 4 2 0
United Arab Emirates 2009 Quarterfinals 5th 4 3 1 0
Russia 2013 Quarterfinals 5th 4 3 1 0
United States 2018 Semifinals 3rd 4 3 1 0
South Africa 2022 7th place final 7th 4 2 2 0
Total 0 Titles 8/8 43 32 11 0

Commonwealth Games

World Games

Tournament Placing
2005 Duisburg 2nd (Silver)
2009 Kaohsiung[2] 3rd (Bronze)
2013 Cali[3] 1st (Gold)

Players

Current squad

The following players have been selected to represent South Africa during the 2025–26 SVNS tournaments which began on 29 November 2025.

Note: Caps reflect the total number of Rugby Sevens events competed in as of the 2026 Hong Kong Sevens.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
David Brits Forward (1997-04-27) 27 April 1997 16 Boland Cavaliers
Zain Davids Forward (1997-05-04) 4 May 1997 64 Western Province
Christie Grobbelaar Forward (2000-05-25) 25 May 2000 30 Sharks
Jayden Nell Forward (2004-10-28) 28 October 2004 2 Unattached
Ryan Oosthuizen Forward (1995-05-22) 22 May 1995 68 Unattached
Zander Reynders Forward (2000-12-19) 19 December 2000 11 Unattached
Siviwe Soyizwapi Forward (1992-12-07) 7 December 1992 70 Unattached
Impi Visser (c) Forward (1995-05-30) 30 May 1995 57 Unattached
Ronald Brown Back (1995-09-02) 2 September 1995 28 Western Province
Gino Cupido Back (2005-09-28) 28 September 2005 3 Western Province
Selvyn Davids Back (1994-03-26) 26 March 1994 54 Unattached
Grant de Jager Back (2004-09-07) 7 September 2004 2 Unattached
Donavan Don Back (2002-02-18) 18 February 2002 17 Boland Cavaliers
Ricardo Duarttee Back (1998-03-15) 15 March 1998 24 Unattached
Luan Giliomee Back (2006-06-07) 7 June 2006 2 Sharks
Dewald Human Back (1995-05-19) 19 May 1995 36 Unattached
Sebastiaan Jobb Back (1999-05-20) 20 May 1999 9 Unattached
Tristan Leyds Back (1997-05-24) 24 May 1997 20 Western Province
Quewin Nortje Back (2003-01-14) 14 January 2003 15 Western Province
Nabo Sokoyi Back (2002-05-22) 22 May 2002 3 Unattached
Shilton van Wyk Back (1999-12-22) 22 December 1999 37 Western Province
Renaldo Young Back (1998-02-12) 12 February 1998 1 Boland Cavaliers

Records and statistics

Previous squads

The previous South African Sevens squads are as follows:

Player records

The following tables show the leading career South Africa players based on statistics from the World Rugby Sevens Series. Players in bold are still active.

Award winners

The following South Africa Sevens players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2004:[7]

References

  1. ^ "Springbok Sevens". sarugby.co.za. SA Rugby. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  2. ^ "World Games Day 2: Fiji cruise to Gold Medal". Ultimate Rugby Sevens. Archived from the original on 27 July 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  3. ^ "2013 World Games rugby results". Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  4. ^ World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
  5. ^ World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
  6. ^ World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
  7. ^ "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
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