The Springbok Sevens team showed true grit and determination to defeat their closest rivals, Fiji, in the ultimate HSBC SVNS Series showdown, winning the final 10-7 to claim not only the New York Sevens title but the overall Series title as well.
The Blitzboks came into the New York tournament knowing they needed to finish above Fiji with both sides on the same log points at the start of the tournament, and in the end, it came down to the narrowest of margins as their superb defence, the smothering tackles and the sheer determination were enough to outlast a very worthy opponent.
This was the Blitzboks’ fourth title in the six-tournament shortened SVNS Series, and so much credit must go to their coach Philip Snyman, who picked the side up from a slump, took them to a bronze medal at the Olympics, a World Championship title last season and now the World Series win.
The victory was also their seventh tournament win on US soil, underlining the fact they really enjoy playing in North America, and was added to their Vancouver Sevens title last weekend. Earlier in the season, they won the Cape Town Sevens and the Perth Sevens along the way.
It wasn’t all plain sailing - while Fiji kept themselves in the top three throughout the season, the Blitzboks had some poor tournaments by their own standards. They started off the season poorly with a fifth-place finish in Dubai, missing out on the semifinals, and a fourth-place finish in Singapore.
Even though Fiji only won one tournament - Singapore - their consistency was almost enough to get them to the title.
NEW YORK BROUGHT THE DRAMA
Last weekend’s win in Vancouver was enough to draw them level and haul in the Fijians, but this New York tournament had its own drama.
First, Fiji got beaten solidly by Argentina in the opening game, while the Blitzboks romped home against New Zealand. Suddenly, the pressure was on, and Fiji needed to win their remaining games. A solid and expected win against Great Britain followed and a showdown against Spain, who had beaten them the week before.
But the Fijians crushed Spain in their final game, while the Blitzboks stumbled after beating France to lose to Australia. Both sides had made the semifinals, but both had tough Sundays waiting on them.
Fiji were way too good for the Wallaby Sevens, taking them apart with offload after offload, meaning the Blitzboks needed to beat a tough Argentina, who won the Series last season, if they had any hope of the title.
The physicality was top level, but the Blitzboks survived to win 12-5 and make the entire series about 14 minutes in the final men's match.
In the first half, the Blitzboks didn’t see much of the ball except for one moment, where Visser went into a breakdown, drove through the middle and stole the ball from the halfback, immediately passing inside to Gino Cupido, who went over untouched.
Tristan Leyds scored early in the second half to make it 10-0, but Fiji was controlling the possession and not giving it away easily. At one stage, the television graphics showed Fiji had made four times as many passes, but had not broken the defensive line.
The Blitzboks tackled like tigers, smothered the offloads, and placed themselves between the players and the ball in open play to stop Fiji’s plan in its tracks.
A talented team like Fiji was always going to find a way, and they did break through late in the game, scoring through Teirio Veilawa in the 11th minute.
Those last three minutes were all Fiji, and all Blitzboks' defence. The team survived, won a breakdown penalty in the dying seconds, and booted it out to celebrate.
Once again, South Africa are World SVNS Series Champions and deservedly so.