The Springbok Sevens claimed a third HSBC SVNS title of the 2026 season by outplaying Spain 38-12 at BC Place in Vancouver on Monday morning, a win that closed the series lead held by Fiji to just a points’ differential.
South Africa and Fiji are both on 86 log points with one tournament left in the regular season, to be played in New York next weekend.
The Fijians are still top of the standings though, as they have a +201 points’ differential, compared to the Blitzboks’ +199, and they are the only two teams that can claim the overall series in the USA.
The Springbok Sevens side qualified for the final by beating Australia 19-12 in their semi-final late on Sunday evening (SA time), while Spain’s 24-17 win over Fiji in the other top four match saw them progress to the final.
However, they ran into a Blitzbok blitzkrieg as the South Africans jumped into a 17-0 into the lead against Spain.
Ryan Oosthuizen scored after a quick tap penalty put him in possession 50m out and like in the Perth final las month, he grabbed the opening try of the match.
The Blitzboks’ defensive alignment caused all sorts of problems to Spain, who panicked and tried elaborate passing to release pressure. Twice though, that resulted in turnovers and Sebastiaan Jobb and Shilton van Wyk scored for a 17-0 lead at the break.
Jobb ran onto a pinpoint pass from Tristan Leyds and Van Wyk chased down a Leyds grubber as South Africa stole a Spain lineout throw. Leyds was named Player of the Final for his exploits.
The second half delivered another masterclass from Impi Visser and his men. Van Wyk scored shortly after the restart as Spain were again pinged in their half and conceded possession.
They finally broke their deadlock when Jeremy Trevithick outpaced the tiring SA defence. From the restart though, Gino Cupido ran onto a Jobb pass to score and the successful conversion all but confirmed the result.
Spain added a second five-pointer before the final try was fittingly scored by Visser, who intercepted another stray Spain pass, with the Blitzbok captain running 50m to deliver the final blow.
Tristan Leyds was named Player of the Final.
Earlier on the second day, the Blitzboks outplayed Australia in their semi-final, coming from behind to win 19-12.
Ronald Brown opened the scoring after a good switch move with Oosthuizen left the Aussie defence flatfooted.
Brown then executed a try saving tackle as well, but that did not stop the Aussies to score twice in short succession to take a 12-7 lead into the break. At this stage, Australia targeted the breakdown to dominate possession.
The second half saw a change in fortunes though as the Blitzbok bench made the necessary impact to secure possession. David Brits scored in the corner after a determined run down the touchline and a delightful conversion by Tristan Leyds edged South Africa ahead 14-12.
A turnover by Visser in his own half then delivered the knock-out punch. The ball was recycled and Selvyn Davids dotted down on the opposite side to put South Africa 19-12 ahead.
With the clock in the red, Australia had one more sortie into the SA half, but a handling error resulted in the Blitzboks earning a consecutive win over Australia, the same team they beat in Perth last month as they marched towards the title.
Scorers:
Semi-final: South Africa 19 (7), Australia 12 (12)
SA – Tries: Ronald Brown, David Brits, Selvyn Davids. Conversions: Brown, Tristan Leyds.
Australia – Tries: Aden Ekanayake (2). Conversion: Dietrich Roache.
Final: South Africa 38 (17), Spain 12 (0)
SA – Tries: Ryan Oosthuizen, Sebastiaan Jobb, Shilton van Wyk (2), Gino Cupido, Impi Visser. Conversions: Ronald Brown (2), Dewald Human (2).
Spain – Tries: Jeremy Trevithick, Anton Legorburu Anso. Conversion: Juan Martinez.
