Herald Correspondent
The Springbok Sevens squad ended their long wait for Hong Kong glory, claiming gold for the first time since the HSBC SVNS Series began in 1999 at the iconic tournament, which this year celebrates 50 years of sevens.
And what a way to do it, as the Blitzboks completed their SVNS World Championship opener with a commanding 35-7 victory over Argentina, outscoring their opponents five tries to one in the final.
They scored two beautiful tries in the first half and completed their perfect performance with another three five-pointers in the second half, with Selvyn Davids bagging two. To add to the faultless performance, all five tries were converted.
It was not only a first Hong Kong win but also a fifth title this season and the Blitzboks’ fourth consecutively, with the previous three coming in the recently completed tournaments in Perth, Vancouver and New York.
It was a true seven-man effort for 14 minutes. Tristan Leyds played like a wizard; Selvyn Davids was his magical self; Shilton van Wyk and Sebastiaan Jobb ran like never before; and in between, the forwards grafted like only Impi Visser, Ryan Oosthuizen and Zain Davids can.
Leyds scored first after a kick into space and Selvyn Davids waltzed through for the second. Argentina pulled one back when Santino Zangara scored, but after the break, the excellence continued.
Quewin Nortjé, Ronald Brown, and Jayden Nell came on in the second half and kept up the competitive excellence, not to mention 10-year tournament veteran and leader Siviwe Soyizwapi, who scored his first try on debut in 2016 and, a decade later, helped his team to this exceptional moment.
Leyds was named player of the final, and he fully deserved it, running 70m for the opener and delivering a perfect kick to send Van Wyk over for his second-half try.
Defending on the wing, he hardly missed a beat, and every Los Pumas player was tackled into the Kai Tak Sports Park pitch.
A mention also for Donavan Don and David Brits, both of whom were ruled out of the final due to injuries but are equally worthy of the long-awaited and seemingly elusive Hong Kong gold medal.
Earlier on Sunday, the Blitzboks raced into a 26-0 lead in their semifinal against New Zealand, which they eventually won 26-14 after two late tries by the Kiwis when the deal was already done.
They played with precision and pace but, more importantly, serious defence. The bigger New Zealand attackers made the mistake of looking for bodies to run into, but the Blitzboks were excellent on the ground and got several turnovers and penalties.
Their first try, six minutes in, was from such a turnover, with Leyds running almost 70m after NZ was robbed of the ball near the Blitzbok line.
New Zealand was given a yellow card when Roderick Solo late-tackled Selvyn Davids, and his team paid the price.
Jobb scored just before the halftime break after the Blitzboks attacked to the left and then to the right, and when Davids converted from the touchline, the 14-0 scoreline was just reward.
They punished New Zealand early in the second half as well.
Still a man down, the Kiwis were found wanting on the outside, and Van Wyk raced in to score a converted try.
At 21-0, the Blitzboks were heading to the final, and a Ryan Oosthuizen try with three minutes left confirmed that, with NZ’s two tries in the final three minutes too little, too late.
Final scorers:
SA — Tries: Tristan Leyds, Selvyn Davids (2), Ryan Oosthuizen, Shilton van Wyk. Conversions: Leyds (2), Ronald Brown (3).
Argentina — Try: Santino Zangara. Conversion: Santiago Vera Feld.
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