Blitzboks defend Cape Town title with thrilling win over Los Pumas Sevens

You could see the emotion on Ryan Oosthuizen’s face after the Blitzboks secured back-to-back titles at their home HSBC SVNS Series event in Cape Town. South Africa left it late, winning a thriller 21-19 over reigning League Winners Argentina.

This was a heavyweight bout worthy of all the hype and anticipation. Thousands at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium watched from the edge of their seats for the entire final, with some heroics from Shilton van Wyk and Ricardo Duarttee seeing the Blitzboks home.

The Blitzboks were unbeaten going into the decider, having finished first in a tough Pool A that included Fiji, the All Blacks Sevens and Great Britain. Los Pumas Sevens’ only blip was a tough loss to Spain.

Luciano Gonzalez, Santiago Mare and Marcos Moneta were leading the way for the Argentinians as they looked to reclaim their place as Cape Town champions, having taken out the title at the event in the 2023/24 SVNS Series.

The Blitzboks were the last team to lift the trophy at the SVNS Cape Town, and they gave themselves a chance to make more history at their home event.

Gonzalez helped get Argentina off to an idyllic start, with the reigning SVNS Series Player of the Year overpowering two defenders en route to the try line. Selvyn Davis attempted a valiant tackle attempt as a sweeper, but the Olympian wasn’t able to stop the try-scorer.

With Argentina on attack moments later, Zain Davids picked off a pass inside his own 22, launching a counter-attack for the hosts. Van Wyk threw the final pass to Donovon Don, who ran away downfield before crossing for a popular try in front of the Cape Town crowd.

But Los Pumas Sevens hit back immediately.

Off the restart, Gonzalez ran upfield before passing the ball onto Moneta.

It was 14-7 at the break.

Moneta extended Argentina’s lead about 30 seconds into the second term, with the flyer getting the ball just outside of Argentina’s 22, but managing to run all the way to the house – splitting two defenders with sheer pace.

Debutant Sonwabo Sokoyi made it a one-score game, making a near-immediate impact after coming on as a half-time replacement. Then, off the restart, Santiago Alvarez dropped the ball, with Oosthuizen forcing the mistake.

South Africa stood tall in defence and eventually reaped the rewards, with van Wyk setting up Christie Grobbelaar for a match-levelling score behind the sticks. Duarttee added the extras to give South Africa the lead.

The drama didn’t end there though, with the restart going into touch on the full.

Duarttee helped win a pilfer penalty, which sealed the win for the Blitzboks.

“We as a team, we said to ourselves, we have to take it game by game,” Player of the Final van Wyk said post-game.

“Whatever comes, we take it, and luckily for us we went five out of five this weekend. We’re grateful for that.”