The Cape Town crowd lifted the roof off DHL Stadium as their heroes South Africa came from behind against France in a thrilling final to lift the trophy.
France – who had never beaten South Africa in Cape Town in 10 previous attempts – scored the first try in an intense final, but the Blitzboks were not going to be denied following their disappointment in Dubai the previous weekend.
Final: Blitzboks win to send home crowd wild
South Africa beat France 26-14 won a thriller of a final to claim a first HSBC SVNS title in Cape Town in nine years.
A breathless first-half ended even at 14-14, as the two sides traded tries. Celian Pouzelgues, in just his second tournament, opened the scoring for Les Bleus.
To the vociferous delight of the home crowd, Donavan Don and Zain Davids hit back before Varian Pasquet went over in the corner on the stroke of halftime. Nerveless Paulin Riva landed the conversion from out wide.
HSBC Player of the Final Shilton van Wyk then won a foot race to the line, despite the attentions of the French defence – and he then released David Brits to extend the home side’s lead.
Siviwe Soyizwapi was yellow carded for tacking Riva off the ball as the seconds ticked down, but the Blitzboks held France at bay.
Co-captain Davids said: “I think you can see the guys are [already] celebrating. We really wanted this. They guys showed a lot of heart out there – we played for each other.”
Bronze Final: Seven heaven for relentless Fiji
Fiji followed up their Dubai title with a third place in Cape Town as they proved too strong for opponents Spain for the second weekend in a row, claiming third with a convincing seven-try 47-10 win.
Spain’s Jeremy Trevithick opened the scoring with the first of his two tries in the match. But Fiji hit back with three – through Joji Nasova, Filipe Sauturaga, Jeremaia Matana – before he could get his second at the end of the opening period.
George Bose jogged over for Fiji’s fourth early in the second. Terio Veilawa ripped through Spain’s defence for their fifth, and Kavekini Tanivanuakula dived in for their sixth, before Viwa Naduvalo had the last word after the hooter.
Fiji coach Osea Kolinisau said immediately afterwards: “The boys were disappointed after the game against France. We didn’t take our opportunities. We’ve worked a lot on defence – defence wins you championships.”
Semi-Finals: South Africa thrill Cape Town with comeback win
Shilton van Wyk sliced through Spain’s defence early in the second half to level the scores as South Africa roared back into their semi-final against Spain, in front of a packed, loud and passionate Cape Town crowd.
Spain had earlier stunned the DHL into silence – with two tries late in the first half before Zain Davids gave the hosts hope with a brilliant breakaway try on the cusp of the break.
Tristan Leyds then gave the Blitzboks the decisive 19-12 lead in a thrilling, end-to-end encounter.
In Dubai last week, Fiji avenged their 2024 Olympic Games final loss beating France 19-17 in the last play of a thrilling quarter-final en route to the Dubai title.
Another physical affair as the sun beat down in Cape Town was level at 12-12 when Iowane Teba broke free from 95m out to make it 17-12 with less than a minute left on the clock.
But France roared back immediately from the restart, Simon Desert racing clear to score in the corner. A Golden Point match seemed to be looming, but Enahemo Artaud, off the bench in just his second tournament, landed the conversion from out wide to send France through 19-17.
Play-offs: Last year’s Cape Town champions finish fifth
Last weekend in Dubai, a try in each half of a hard-fought encounter was enough for Argentina, who kept the All Blacks Sevens scoreless.
In Cape Town, they raced into a 12-0 lead, courtesy of tries from Joaquin Pellandini and Matías Osadczuk. But Sione Molia and Sofai Maka led a New Zealand fightback, levelling the scores on the stroke of halftime.
Matteo Graziano nudged Argentina ahead again early in the second period – and they held New Zealand at bay to win 17-12.
Argentina, champions in Cape Town last December, came from 14-0 down to beat a rapidly rising Kenya 26-14 and ensure a place in the fifth-place final.
Patrick Odongo Okong’o scored two of Kenya’s four tries in five first-half minutes, as they raced out of the blocks in their seventh-place final against Great Britain. Nygel Pettersan Amaitsa added a couple of his own late on as they won 32-17 to add eight points to the three they picked up in Dubai.
Discipline had cost Great Britain in their opening outing on day two, as they lost their fifth-place semi-final against illness-hit New Zealand 21-17.
At the end of a hard-fought battle, Australia claimed ninth place in Cape Town with a 19-12 win over USA.
Earlier, Lucas Lacamp had scored a hat-trick as the Eagles beat Uruguay 26-14.
With only eight fit players, shattered Ireland’s gutsy Cape Town run ended in a golden point 12-7 defeat against Uruguay in the 11th-place play-off, after they had lost by the same scoreline against Australia.
