SINGAPORE DAY TWO WRAP: South Africa will end the league phase of the HSBC SVNS season in fourth place, but their dramatic slide has continued.

For the second-successive tournament in the regular season, the BlitzBoks finished ninth.

South African Sevens coach Philip Snyman bemoaned the lack of consistency in Singapore this past two weeks.

Argentina won the league, despite defeat against the BlitzBoks in their pool match on Saturday, with the top eight teams now setting their sights on the Grand Finale in Los Angeles early next month.

Ultimately, the BlitzBoks won three of their four matches in Singapore – showing great character to win both their matches on Sunday, 14-12 against the United States and 26-7 over Australia, with only nine available players.

However, it was the big defeat in their pool opener against Great Britain that saw them consigned to the minor placings.

Snyman said the weekend was “bittersweet” and that the performances left him with mixed emotions, but that overall, he was happy with the way in which the players stood up and fought in their last three games.

“That first game against Great Britain really put us on the back foot, first with the early red card and then playing with only five players later on after a yellow card,” said Snyman.

“We need to address our discipline as it wasn’t up to standard with too many cards and too many penalties.

“After that game, we decided we’re going to judge ourselves on our last three matches. We put up a massive fight against Argentina, the world’s number one team, and this morning, despite beating the United States, we were not at our best and not clinical, which is probably the story of our season – too up and down and not consistent enough.

“Then we delivered one of our best and most clinical performances against Australia, so while I have some mixed emotions, I’m very happy with the way in which we finished the tournament.”

Snyman said the lack of consistency is frustrating: “I believe in this squad and the programme, but we need to be more consistent, which is why we’re not amongst the top three. We still made a massive step up from last season though.

“We have beaten Argentina twice and we played in two finals, but on the Asian leg in the last two weeks we came up short, which we need to address.

“We are going to continue to work very hard and make a mental shift to see how we can me more clinical and consistent, because this team have shown they can beat any other team.”

Snyman said the BlitzBoks have made progress this season although they have set higher goals for themselves.

“Coming into this tournament, we wanted to play according to our standards, and we did that in the last couple of games, so we’re happy with that, but we’re still too inconsistent to be regarded as one of the good teams,” he said.

“If we can’t get that right, we’ll struggle to be amongst the best, and that is one of our goals. At the start of the season, we said we wanted to be amongst the top teams while also blooding new players with the 2028 Olympic Games in mind.

“I think we did that, with someone like Zander Reynders making his debut and making massive steps up every tournament, growing as a player and a leader, while Gino Cupido came through too. We are heading in the right direction, but we need to be more consistent.”

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MEN

* In the men’s Final, Fiji held their nerve to score three second-half tries to defeat Kenya 21-12.

Player of the Final Viwa Naduvalo said: “Thanks to my teammates for giving 100% effort. We ended up with the win.”

Fiji go into the World Championships in Los Angeles in May in second place in the table, eight points adrift of League Winners Argentina. Kenya will contest the relegation play-offs.

THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF

League champions Argentina made it five podium finishes from the six HSBC SVNS events this season as they scored five tries to respond to Asher Perez and Pol Pla strikes for Spain.

Though not at their best following clinching the League Winners’ crown on day one, Los Pumas recovered well through Marcos Moneta and Tobias Wade to tie the game at 14-all.

Luciano Gonzalez blitzed through the Spanish midfield and got to about 15 metres before being felled only for German Schulz to float a kick out to Matteo Graziano to score. Gonzalez and Agustin Fraga got on the scoresheet too to claim third place 33-14, while Spain’s fourth place was their best ever in Singapore.

WOMEN

* In the women’s section New Zealand snuffed out Australia’s attacking threats to add the Singapore title to the League Winners crown they won on day one at the National Stadium.

Winning captain Sarah Hirini said she was “stoked for this group”.

“Everyone knows when you win the title and win the tournament at the same time it’s an even greater feeling,” Hirini added. “We all love what we do. We know how grateful we are to be in this position.”

THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF

Canada earned a place on the podium for a second week in a row with a 21-5 win over stuttering France.

Carissa Norsten was the beneficiary of a brilliant first-minute charge by Shalaya Valenzuela, who herself then ran over. France’s Hawa Tounkara withstood a few big hits but succumbed to injury early in the second half in a fiercely contested match and French hopes of third spot all but evaporated when Rose Marie Fiafialoto was sin binned for kicking the ball away.

Olivia Apps dictated the play that led to Fancy Bermudez slicing in for Canada’s third try before Lea Trollier notched a consolation.

Day Two results

MEN

Cup Final
Kenya 12-21 Fiji

Third-place decider
Spain 14-33 Argentina

Cup semifinals
Kenya 12-5 Spain
Argentina 24-33 Fiji

Fifth-place decider
Uruguay 29-33 Great Britain

Fifth-place play-offs
Ireland 5-27 Uruguay
Great Britain 24-22 New Zealand

Seventh-place decider
Ireland 21-19 New Zealand

Ninth-place decider
Australia 7-26 South Africa

Ninth-place play-offs
France 5-28 Australia
South Africa 14-12 United States

Eleventh-place play-off
France 12-17 United States

WOMEN

Cup Final
Australia 7-31 New Zealand

Third-place decider
Canada 21-5 France

Cup semifinals
Australia 45-7 Canada
New Zealand 40-14 France

Fifth-place decider
Japan 26-12 China

Fifth-place play-offs
Japan 21-12 Great Britain
China 27-0 Fiji

Seventh-place decider
Great Britain 14-43

Ninth-place decider
Spain 17-5 Ireland

Ninth-place play-offs
Spain 15-5 United States
Brazil 10-26 Ireland

Eleventh-place play-off
United States 26-21 Brazil