Dominant Blitzboks face historic Hong Kong hurdle despite strong 2026 form

The Blitzboks, in 2026, have probably been at their best and most consistent for the first time in a few years. Despite the three-tournament World Championship offering a proverbial clean slate, they will be looking to extend their winning streak.

Especially this coming weekend (17-19 April) when they play in Hong Kong, which has long been the holy grail that eludes South African Sevens rugby. Despite nearly three decades of attempts and four finals appearances, the Blitzboks have never claimed gold at the iconic tournament.

The timing could hardly be better as they are fresh off securing the 2025/26 World Series title, sealed by a tournament victory in New York, their fourth out of six. Yet within the camp, there is little appetite to dwell on past success.

“We are starting this championship at the same venue and with no log points,” said Zain Davids who returns to the squad after some well-deserved rest. “What happened in the past counts for nothing, but what happens this weekend will.

“We have never won here, fair enough, but that is not consuming us. What we want is to be on the same page, execute our game plan as one, and take it one game at a time.”

In their history at the Hong Kong Sevens, the Blitzboks have made it to the final four times before – 1997, 2008, 2009 and more recently, 2017 – but have never managed to get over the line.

Furthermore, since the HSBC SVNS series resumed post-Covid the Blitzboks have endured a dismal run, failing to finish inside the top five, with 2025 marking one of their poorest results in the past decade following a ninth-place finish.

“We started over; this is a new challenge and we have some players coming back, so we had to align first and the best way to do that is to start at the basics,” said head coach Philip Snyman.

“We worked hard in training, pushed each other very hard and reminded ourselves of our objectives at the start of this campaign. Doing well in Hong Kong was one of them, so we know what we are training for.

“Nothing has changed from our competitive excellence mindset in camp, so we will again travel with a quiet determination to build this team into one of the best in the world.”

Maintaining consistency amid squad rotations

Snyman has made three changes to his squad for Hong Kong.

Following a run of injuries and niggles, Quewin Nortje returns to the Springbok Sevens setup for the first time since Los Angeles in May 2025, where the Blitzboks won the title.

Davids, who was rested during the North American leg, and Jayden Nell, who made his debut in New York a few weeks ago, also joined the setup. Alongside Nortje, they replace Christie Grobbelaar, Dewald Human and Gino Cupido, who were ruled out after picking up injuries in the United States (US).

Amid these changes, the Blitzboks will need to focus on remaining consistent, with skipper Impi Visser acknowledging that their attacking game still needs work.

“We are not quite there yet, especially on attack, where we can be much better than we were in our last tournament in New York,” said Visser during the captain’s photo in Hong Kong. “There our defence was outstanding, our attack not so much.”

Their defence is reflected in the statistics with SA topping the defensive table in the US. Ryan Oosthuizen led the tackle count with 16, followed by Sebastiaan Jobb with 14, Selvyn Davids with 12 and Impi Visser who made 11 crucial tackles that weekend.

“We believe we are the best team on the circuit, and as such we want to prove that by winning this weekend,” said Visser. “Being the top-ranked team will put a target on our backs, but that is fine. We want to be challenged, but mostly by ourselves.

“Our focus is on what we want to achieve, starting with the match against Uruguay.”

Clouded by injuries

The Springbok Women’s Sevens squad will join the men in Hong Kong for the first time this season after securing a hard-earned promotion.

The team had one goal this sevens season and that was to reach the penultimate World Championship. However, in order to avoid starting from the bottom again in 2027, the team will have to place in the top eight at the end of the three tournaments.

That may prove difficult as five key players have been ruled out of Hong Kong and possibly the rest of the season after sustaining major injuries in the second division.

Perhaps the biggest blow is that skipper Nadine Roos, who is also the leading points scorer for her team with 61, has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after sustaining a knee injury.

To say the Sevens side are wholly dependent on their skipper would be doing a disservice to the team, but her impact on the team is undeniable. They may have to dig really deep to fill the void she has undoubtedly left.

Roos is joined on the sidelines by Liske Lategan and Shannon-Lee Windvogel, both of whom had to undergo surgery. Simamkele Namba was ruled out due to a hamstring strain and Patience Mokone also with a knee injury.

Replacing them will be Zintle Mpupha and Eloise Webb as well as debutantes Jané Mulder and Owami Mohuli.

The Springbok Women have been drawn in Pool B and will face Australia, Canada and Great Britain. Meanwhile the men are in Pool A with Argentina, Spain and Uruguay. DM

Men’s fixtures

Friday, 17 April (local time)

5.16am: Uruguay

8.49am: Spain

Saturday, 17 April (local time)

6.13am: Argentina

Women’s fixtures

Friday, 17 April (local time)

6.25am: Australia

9.12am: Canada

Saturday, 17 April (local time)

5.04am: Great Britain