South Africa national rugby sevens team


The [Argentina national rugby sevens team|]South African national rugby sevens team, commonly known as the Springbok Sevens, 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 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, the official emblem of the South African rugby team.

Tournament history

Series tournament wins

South Africa won the following tournaments on the Sevens World Series since its inception in 1999–2000:
44 Tournament wins up to 8 December 2025
SeasonTournamentFinal opponentScore
2001–022002 Wellington SevensSamoa17–14
2002–032003 Cardiff SevensArgentina35–17
2003–042003 Dubai SevensNew Zealand33–26
2003–042004 Singapore SevensArgentina24–19
2004–052005 London SevensEngland21–12
2005–062006 Paris SevensSamoa33–12
2006–07 [IRB Sevens World Series|2006–07]2006 Dubai SevensNew Zealand31–12
2007–082008 Adelaide SevensNew Zealand15–7
2008–092008 Dubai SevensEngland19–12
2008–092008 South Africa SevensNew Zealand12–7
2008–092009 Adelaide SevensKenya26–7
2010–112011 USA SevensFiji24–14
2010–112011 London SevensFiji24–14
2010–112011 Edinburgh SevensAustralia36–35
2012–132013 USA SevensNew Zealand40–21
2012–132013 Japan SevensNew Zealand24–19
2012–13Scotland Sevens">Scotland national rugby sevens team">Scotland SevensNew Zealand28–21
2013–142013 South Africa SevensNew Zealand17–14
2013–142014 USA SevensNew Zealand14–7
2014–152014 Dubai SevensAustralia33–7
2014–152014 South Africa SevensNew Zealand26–17
2015–162015 South Africa SevensArgentina29–14
2016–172016 Dubai SevensFiji26–14
2016–172017 Wellington SevensFiji26–5
2016–172017 Sydney SevensEngland29–14
2016–172017 USA SevensFiji19–12
2016–172017 Paris SevensScotland15–5
2017–182017 Dubai SevensNew Zealand24–12
2017–182018 Paris SevensEngland24–14
2018–192019 Vancouver SevensFrance21–12
2018–192019 Singapore SevensFiji20–19
2019–202019 Dubai SevensNew Zealand15–0
2019–202020 Los Angeles SevensFijj29–24
20212021 Vancouver SevensKenya
38–5
20212021 Edmonton SevensGreat Britain24–12
2021–222021 Dubai SevensUnited States of America42–7
2021–222021 Dubai SevensAustralia10–7
2021–22Spain Sevens# Málaga|2022 Málaga Sevens]Argentina24–17
2021–222022 Seville SevensAustralia33–7
2022–232022 Dubai SevensIreland21–5
2023–242023 Dubai SevensArgentina12–7
2024–252024 South Africa SevensFrance26–14
2024–252025 USA SevensSpain19–5
2025–262025 South Africa Sevens
Argentina		21–19

Quadrennial tournaments

World Games

TournamentPlacing
2005 Duisburg2nd
2009 Kaohsiung3rd
2013 Cali1st

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 2025 South Africa Sevens.

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.
No.PlayerTries
1230
2179
3179
4114
5117

No.PlayerMatches
1397
2373
3347
4345
5344

No.PlayerPoints
11462
21402
31150
41049
5925

Award winners

The following South Africa Sevens players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2004:
YearNomineesWinners
2014Seabelo Senatla—
2015Ruhan Nel—
2021Ronald Brown—
2023Ricardo DuartteeRicardo Duarttee
2024Quewin Nortje—
--—
--—

YearNomineesWinners
2006Stefan Basson—
2008Fabian Juries—
2009Renfred Dazel—
2011Cecil AfrikaCecil Afrika
2014Kyle Brown—
2015Werner KokWerner Kok
2015Seabelo SenatlaWerner Kok
2016Seabelo Senatla Seabelo Senatla
2017Rosko Specman—

YearNo.Player
20241.Selvyn Davids