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
CaptainImpi Visser
Most capsBranco du Preez (88) (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 or Blitzboks, 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 5 times, as well as having won 48 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
1993–1996 Cotton Traders Lion Lager
1996–2000 Nike No shirt sponsor
2000–2004 Castle Lager
2004–2011 Canterbury SASOL
2011–2014 Absa
2014–2016 Asics
2016–2018 Steinhoff
2018–2022 Castle Free
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
Champions5

Grand Final Record

Event Position
2024 6th
2025 1st
2026 1st
Champions2

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
2001–022002 Wellington SevensSamoa17–14
2002–032003 Cardiff SevensArgentina35–17
2003–042003 Dubai SevensNew Zealand33–26
2004 Singapore SevensArgentina24–19
2004–052005 London SevensEngland21–12
2005–062006 Paris SevensSamoa33–12
2006–072006 Dubai SevensNew Zealand31–12
2007–082008 Adelaide SevensNew Zealand15–7
2008–092008 Dubai SevensEngland19–12
2008 South Africa SevensNew Zealand12–7
2009 Adelaide SevensKenya26–7
2010–112011 USA SevensFiji24–14
2011 London SevensFiji24–14
2011 Edinburgh SevensAustralia36–35
2012–132013 USA SevensNew Zealand40–21
2013 Japan SevensNew Zealand24–19
2013 Scotland SevensNew Zealand28–21
2013–142013 South Africa SevensNew Zealand17–14
2014 USA SevensNew Zealand14–7
2014–152014 Dubai SevensAustralia33–7
2014 South Africa SevensNew Zealand26–17
2015–162015 South Africa SevensArgentina29–14
2016–172016 Dubai SevensFiji26–14
2017 Wellington SevensFiji26–5
2017 Sydney SevensEngland29–14
2017 USA SevensFiji19–12
2017 Paris SevensScotland15–5
2017–182017 Dubai SevensNew Zealand24–12
2018 Paris SevensEngland24–14
2018–192019 Canada SevensFrance21–12
2019 Singapore SevensFiji20–19
2019–202019 Dubai SevensNew Zealand15–0
2020 USA SevensFiji29–24
(a.e.t.)
20212021 Vancouver SevensKenya

38–5

2021 Edmonton SevensGreat Britain24–12
2021–222021 Dubai Sevens Event IUnited States42–7
2021 Dubai Sevens Event IIAustralia10–7
2022 Málaga SevensArgentina24–17
2022 Seville SevensAustralia33–7
2022–23 2022 Dubai Sevens Ireland 21–5
2023–24 2023 Dubai Sevens Argentina 12–7
2024–252024 South Africa SevensFrance26–14
2025 USA SevensSpain19–5
2025–262025 South Africa SevensArgentina21–19
2026 Australia SevensFiji21–19
2026 Canada SevensSpain38–12
2026 USA SevensFiji10–7
2026 Hong Kong SevensArgentina35–7

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
Total0 Titles3/3181260


Olympic Games History
2016 Pool stageSouth Africa  24 – 0  SpainWin
South Africa  26 – 0  FranceWin
South Africa  5 – 12  AustraliaLoss
QuarterfinalsSouth Africa  22 – 5  AustraliaWin
SemifinalsSouth Africa  7 – 5  Great BritainLoss
Bronze Medal MatchSouth Africa  54 – 14  JapanWin
2020 Pool stageSouth Africa  33 – 14  IrelandWin
South Africa  14 – 5  KenyaWin
South Africa  17 – 12  United StatesWin
QuarterfinalsSouth Africa  14 – 19  ArgentinaLoss
5th Place SemifinalsSouth Africa  22 – 19  AustraliaWin
5th Place MatchSouth Africa  28 – 7  United StatesWin
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
Total0 Titles8/84332110

Commonwealth Games

World Games

TournamentPlacing
2005 Duisburg 2nd (Silver)
2009 Kaohsiung 3rd (Bronze)
2013 Cali 1st (Gold)

Honours

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 France Sevens.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
David Brits Forward (1997-04-28) 28 April 1997 (age 29) 16 Boland Cavaliers
Zain Davids Forward (1997-05-04) 4 May 1997 (age 29) 66 Unattached
Christie Grobbelaar Forward (2000-05-25) 25 May 2000 (age 26) 30 Sharks XV
Jayden Nell Forward (2004-10-28) 28 October 2004 (age 21) 4 Unattached
Ryan Oosthuizen Forward (1995-05-22) 22 May 1995 (age 31) 70 Unattached
Zander Reynders Forward (2000-12-19) 19 December 2000 (age 25) 10 Unattached
Siviwe Soyizwapi Forward (1992-12-07) 7 December 1992 (age 33) 72 Unattached
Impi Visser (c) Forward (1995-05-30) 30 May 1995 (age 31) 58 Unattached
Ronald Brown Back (1995-09-02) 2 September 1995 (age 31) 28 Unattached
Selvyn Davids Back (1994-03-26) 26 March 1994 (age 32) 56 Unattached
Grant de Jager Back (2004-09-07) 7 September 2004 (age 22) 2 Unattached
Donavan Don Back (2002-02-18) 18 February 2002 (age 24) 17 Sharks
Ricardo Duarttee Back (1998-03-15) 15 March 1998 (age 28) 26 Unattached
Dewald Human Back (1995-05-19) 19 May 1995 (age 31) 37 Unattached
Sebastiaan Jobb Back (1999-05-20) 20 May 1999 (age 27) 11 Unattached
Tristan Leyds Back (1997-05-24) 24 May 1997 (age 29) 22 Unattached
Quewin Nortje Back (2003-01-14) 14 January 2003 (age 23) 17 Unattached
Nabo Sokoyi Back (2002-05-22) 22 May 2002 (age 24) 3 Unattached
Shilton van Wyk Back (1999-12-22) 22 December 1999 (age 26) 38 Unattached
Renaldo Young Back (1998-02-12) 12 February 1998 (age 28) 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 rugby sevens players. Players in bold are still active.

Award winners

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

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. ↑ "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.