The Blitzboks took on New Zealand in the HSBC Sydney Sevens final on Sunday, the 29th of January, at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney, Australia. New Zealand thumped South Africa 38-0 to claim the title while the Blitzboks bring home a silver medal.

South Africa had a positive tournament with 5 consecutive wins in the bag as they headed into the series decider today. After narrowly beating New Zealand 17-14 in the pool stages and securing a stunning, ruthless win against Fiji in the semi’s, the Blitzboks were expected to come in guns blazing to claim a 6th and final big win.

Unfortunately they entered the game looking tired after a full tournament behind them which led to a first ever scoreless game against the Kiwis. 

After a disappointing loss, Blitzbok coach, Sandile Ngcobo said they did not do themselves justice in the final and he expected more after having successfully climbed their way to the finals.

“We lost the physical battle and that reflects on our attitude in the final. We were not where we needed to be and we were simply not good enough in the final to win, yes, we had a bad patch with injuries to Siviwe Soyizwapi and Ryan Oosthuizen, and then Jaiden Baron and Impi Visser… but that is no excuse,” he said

Despite their loss this morning, the Blitzboks moved into second place in the World Rugby Sevens Series standings after their silver medal finish.

Some of South Africa’s star players also managed to secure a stellar set of performance recognitions with Ricardo Duarttee claiming the leading points scorer title for the Blitzboks with 34 points and Shilton van Wyk leading the try scoring with 6 tries throughout the tournament. 

Kayla Barker/OFM Sport