Blitzboks seal series, now target Sevens Championship

2026-03-17 - 04:13

The Blitzboks sealed the 2025-26 World Sevens Series division one title in a thrilling winner-takes-all final shootout against Fiji at the New York Sevens in the USA over the past weekend. The Blitzboks and Fiji went into the final series event level pegging on the log, and followed a remarkably similar route to the final. Both teams won two of their three pool games; the Blitzboks beating New Zealand and France before going down to Australia, while Fiji lost to Argentina before beating Great Britain and Spain. They both thus finished second in their pools, but bounced back to beat the two teams that finished above them, with the Blitzboks triumphing over Argentina 14-5, while Fiji cruised past Australia 28-7 in the semi-finals. It thus set up a blockbuster finale and lived up to expectations, as two tries at the start of each half from the Blitzboks put them 10-0 up, before Fiji scored with three minutes remaining to make it 10-7, with the South Africans then holding on over the final few minutes to lift the cup. “This was special, not because of the execution of play, but the heart and intensity to play for each other that was shown out there,” said Blitzboks coach Philip Snyman after the tournament. “The players showed what Springbok Sevens stands for and played for that jersey, and as a coach, you cannot be prouder of such an effort.” Squad effort Snyman praised the entire Blitzboks squad for their efforts over the season so far, as they have had to name a number of squads for various tournaments due to injuries and also in an effort to improve their depth. “The senior players bought in and started to contribute, and every new player coming in had the backing of support of the senior guys as well and that made it possible to continue with that plan,” explained Snyman. Overall, the Blitzboks won four titles, in Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver and New York, while Fiji won in Singapore and New Zealand in Dubai, but the South Africans’ poor showings in the two tournaments they didn’t win allowed Fiji to keep pace with strong placings in each event. With this the first season being played under the new Sevens structure, the teams now turn all their attention to the Sevens World Championship to be battled out over three events. The eight division one Sevens teams, namely the Blitzboks, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, France, Argentina, Spain and Great Britain, will be joined by the top four teams from Sevens division two, to make up the 12 teams taking part in the Championship. They will all then battle it out in Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux in April, May and June, with the overall winner being crowned World Sevens Champions. “We are not done yet, we need to keep growing and improving. We will have a rest now but will come back as determined for the three tournaments of the World Championship,” said Snyman.