AUDIO: SA Sevens A's time to shine as Olympics prep kicks off

SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: Ricardo Duarttee and Mfundo Ndhlovu, who were members of the Blitzboks’ HSBC SVNS World Championship winning squad, have been included in the Springbok Sevens ‘A’ squad for the Rugby Africa Sevens Cup in Mauritius.

The tournament will give BlitzBoks head coach Philip Snyman a glimpse of what the future holds for the sevens programme.

Along with Duarttee and Ndhlovu, who both scored tries in the victory over Spain in the Los Angeles Final last month, Snyman has included two other capped Blitzboks, Sebastiaan Jobb and Masande Mtshali, for the African tournament, to be played at Labourdonnais Sports Club on June 21 and 22. The group will depart for Mauritius on Friday.

The four Blitzboks will be joined by a number of players in the wider national sevens training squad, as well as two Varsity Cup standouts from Maties in Grant de Jager and Ezekiel Ngobeni.

Gideon van Wyk, Jayden Nell, Ntsika Fisanti, Joubert Schoeman, Rowan Malgas and Joel Leotlela were all regulars at the Blitzbok training sessions, although Leotlela was released to play for Western Province in the SA Rugby U21 Cup, while Fisanti helped the Pumas to win the SA Cup last month.

Apart from their stint with the WP U21 team in recent weeks, Ngobeni and Leotlela also played together for the Junior Springboks last year, while Jobb and Mtshali also represented the SA U20 earlier in their careers.

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While the South African participation and overall placing do not affect the other African sides and their quest to qualify for the HSBC Challenger Series, it remains a very important outing for Snyman’s vision of growth in his squad, with the Blitzbok coach keen to add depth to his championship side.

“We certainly want to support African competitions where possible, and this tournament fits in nicely, as we will conclude our 2025 season by going to the Rugby Africa Sevens in Mauritius,” said Snyman.

“It is important to grow the game on the continent,t and it provides us with a perfect opportunity to give playing time to those who trained hard all season, but did not get the chance to play.

“We are building towards the Olympic Games in 2028, and these tournaments are important for us to give players exposure and game time.

“Both Grant de Jager and Ezekiel Ngobeni caught my eye playing in the Varsity Cup, and they have done well in our training sessions thus far. They are the type of players I want to have a look at with an eye on the future development of the squad.”

Snyman said Ndhlovu’s inclusion is because he only played in two tournaments in the recently concluded world series, while Duarttee will be tried in the flyhalf position at the tournament.

“I am also looking forward to the efforts from Masande and Sebastiaan, who will have to step up as senior players in the group,” added Snyman.

South Africa were drawn in Pool B and will face Burkina Faso, Zambia and Nigeria. Pool A consists of Uganda, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, while the hosts will face Madagascar and Zimbabwe in Pool C.

South Africa Sevens A squad: Masande Mtshali, Jayden Nell, Gideon van Wyk, Ntshika Fisanti, Ricardo Duarttee, Joubert Schoeman, Grant de Jager, Ezekiel Ngobeni, Rowan Malgas, Joel Leotlela, Sebastiaan Jobb, Mfundo Ndhlovu.

South Africa Sevens A pool fixtures 

Saturday, June 21 (SA times):

08.06: Nigeria
10.50: Zambia
13.34: Burkina Faso