Can Blitzboks finally break their Hong Kong hoodoo?

football27 March 2025 06:00| © SuperSport
By:Brenden Nel
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Philip Snyman © Gallo Images

Will it finally be redemption time, or will the Hong Kong curse strike again? It’s hard to believe that the Springbok Sevens, who have won the World Series a number of times, and have won virtually every tournament on offer, still have a poor record when it comes to the Series crown Jewel in Hong Kong.

Despite being the venue of the best known Sevens tournament on the planet, it is the one place the Springbok Sevens have failed to capitalise on, having been in three finals over the years, only to lose them all.

And there is a feeling surrounding “Honkers”, as the locals like to call it, that somehow, something always seems to go wrong in the former British principality.

That's why every time the tournament rolls around, the Blitzboks are normally quizzed on this anomaly, and normally give the stock standard answers for the questions about their hoodoo on the island.

This time around, refreshingly there has been little talk of the history at the tournament, but more about the development and resurgence of the Blitzboks in a series that they took a massive dip in over the past few seasons.

Their win in Cape Town, final appearance in Vancouver and semifinal appearance in Perth all point to an upward curve for the team under the guidance of former captain Philip Snyman and perhaps, just perhaps, this time in Hong Kong could be a little different.

That the team has a tricky draw is well-known, but given the nature of the oddly-named SVNS series nowadays, that is nothing new. With just 12 teams on the circuit, the pressure is on in every tournament against teams that have beaten you in the past and coaches know they have to be on top of their game from the start.

While the tournament is spread out over three days, giving the bodies a little more rest between games, the pressure is no less, with a tricky opener against Uruguay on Friday followed by a tough match in the evening against Australia.

TOUGH MATCH EITHER WAY

The Wallaby Sevens team beat the Blitzboks controversially in the semifinal in Perth, but the Blitzboks reversed that in Vancouver, so it will be a tough match either way.

Saturday sees the return of the rivalry with the All Black Sevens, themselves going through a dip at the moment, but always will raise their game for the South African challenge.

From there it is a roll of the dice for the quarters, and the margins are miniscule. But the positivity in the camp this week is something to give the team a boost - especially given the birthday celebrations for both playmaker Selvyn Davids and coach Snyman, it would be hard to break the positive mood going into the tournament.

But whether that is enough to break the Hong Kong hoodoo remains to be seen.

Kenya’s hopes rest on familiar foes, but more so on their own form as they have Series finds Spain, Great Britain and Olympic Champions France in their group. All three are winnable for the Kenyas, but they have managed to be their own worst enemies more often than not in this Series, so they will need some consistency in form if they are to advance.

Fixtures

(All times CAT, GMT+2. All Games live on SuperSport)

South Africa

Friday

11:56am v Uruguay

2:39pm v Australia

Saturday

7:43am v New Zealand

Kenya

Friday

5:39am v Spain

8:23am v Great Britain

Saturday

4:16am v France