Clinical BlitzBoks book semifinal spot
DAY ONE WRAP: The BlitzBoks secured yet another semifinal in the HSBC SVNS series by claiming top honours of Pool A at the Vancouver leg at BC Place on Day One of the tournament.
They will face Australia in the first semifinal of the HSBC SVNS Vancouver, while Fiji and Spain will contest the second semifinal.
South Africa outplayed Great Britain (21-5), Spain (28-7), and New Zealand (17-12) at BC Place to finish top of their pool.
They contested semifinals in Cape Town, Singapore and Perth in the previous three events, winning at home and in Australia last month.
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Day 2 locked in 🔒
Thrilling SVNS Semi-Finals await in Vancouver 👀#HSBCSVNS #HSBCSVNSVAN pic.twitter.com/zcnZ42f26P
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) March 8, 2026
Good defence laid the foundation for the success of the first day. They missed very few one-on-one tackles, kept their discipline and outworked their opponents.
They were a bit slow out of the blocks in their first match, though, as they conceded a couple of penalties at the breakdown, but once Ronald Brown made a break to score the opening try, more fluency on attack followed. Brown’s opener was the only points in the first half.
Team GB scored first in the second half, but the BlitzBoks upped the tempo with several bench players making an impact, such as Ryan Oosthuizen, who, alongside Shilton van Wyk, scored the second-half tries.
Against Spain, it was again a matter of patience. The Spaniards were full of running after a confidence-boosting win over New Zealand in their first game.
Brown again opened the scoring as he darted around the blind side from a scrum in the only points of an evenly contested first half.
The second half belonged to South Africa as they tested and overcame the Spanish defence. Sebastiaan Jobb raced in from 70 meters following a great break, and soon after, Shilton van Wyk dotted down after another good attacking spell.
Tristan Leyds dotted down for the fourth try and converted before Spain scored in the last play of the match.
A great start against New Zealand sealed the deal for the BlitzBoks.
Impi Visser scored after an impressive long-range effort by the skipper, and Shilton van Wyk followed soon after to extend the lead. A third try by Siviwe Soyizwapi late in the first half pushed the lead out to 17 points.
New Zealand, having to win the match to stay in the tournament, rallied well in the second half, scoring twice, but some good turnovers by Selvyn Davids and Dewald Human eased the pressure, and the Blitzboks could finish the day unbeaten.
South Africa 21 – Great Britain 5
Scorers
For the BlitzBoks
Tries: Brown, Van Wyk, Oosthuizen
Cons: Brown, Human 2
For Great Britain:
Try: Lloyd-Gilmour
South Africa 28 – Spain 7
Scorers
For the BlitzBoks
Tries: Brown, Jobb, Van Wyk, Leyds
Cons: Brown 3, Leyds
For Spain
Try: Trevithick
Con: Ponce
South Africa 17 – New Zealand 12
Scorers
For the BlitzBoks
Tries: Visser, Van Wyk, Soyizwapi
Con: Brown
For New Zealand:
Tries: Rush, Vaenuku
Con: Rokolisoa
Full Day One results:
Men’s:
Australia 17-15 Argentina
Fiji 26-21 France
New Zealand 10-12 Spain
South Africa 21-5 Great Britain
Australia 19-7 France
Fiji 14-17 Argentina
New Zealand 29-5 Great Britain
South Africa 28-7 Spain
Argentina 12-28 France
Fiji 35-14 Australia
Spain 10-0 Great Britain
South Africa 17-12 New Zealand
Women’s:
France 22-0 Japan
New Zealand 35-5 Great Britain
USA 40-7 Canada
Australia 38-24 Fiji
France 38-5 Great Britain
New Zealand 43-5 Japan
USA 26-19 Fiji
Australia 26-12 Canada
Japan 31-7 Great Britain
New Zealand 38-17 France
Canada 12-14 Fiji
Australia 22-7 USA
Day Two fixtures (Kick-off is local time – GMT -7 hours)
Men’s
Fifth-place semifinals
New Zealand v Argentina (12.52)
France v Great Britain (13.14)
Cup semifinals
South Africa v Australia (14.33)
Fiji v Spain (14.55)
Women’s
Fifth-place semifinal
Japan v Canada (13.36)
Fiji v Great Britain (13.58)
Cup semifinals
New Zealand v USA (15.17)
Australia v France (15.39)
