South Africa ended their Sevens season with a fourth-place in Bordeaux, but the placing was of academic interest as they had already wrapped up the title in reaching the semi-finals.
In beating Fiji 14-12 in their quarter-final they secured back-to-back SVNS World Championship titles, and on Sunday lost 21-12 to hosts France and then suffering their worst defeat of the season, 40-14 to Spain. Olympic champions France went on to beat New Zealand 14-5 in the final.
South Africa played in six finals out of nine tournaments, won five. The South Africans also won 37 matches, more than any other team this season, and for coach Phillip Snyman, those were the fruits of a harvest that is founded in hard work, positive work ethos and a buy-in of a shared culture of competitive excellence and honesty.
“I am so very, very proud on this team, and to win both the World Series and the World Championship is a special feat indeed,” said Snyman.
“The fact that we won the Hong Kong tournament for the first time ever was probably the highlight of the World Championship, and along with playing in the final last weekend, that laid the foundation for us to retain our World Championship status.”
Tristan Leyds became the fourth South African to win the World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year award. The other South Africans to win the award are Cecil Afrika (2011), Werner Kok (2015) and Seabelo Senatla (2016).
“He joined us over two years ago and has quickly grown into a senior player, someone who worked really hard to upskill himself to the demands of sevens rugby, while also remained a positive squad member.
“He is a worthy winner. I played with all three previous winners, and coached Tristan. He is right up there with the best.”
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