The Blitzboks claimed tournament wins in Vancouver and Singapore in a season where they achieved another important goal – qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Overall, the team finished fourth on the log, but Springbok Sevens coach, Neil Powell, achieved a number of objectives that will stand the Blitzboks in good stead in the future.

• Five new players were capped in 2018/19 with 22 players used in total: Impi Visser, JC Pretorius, Sako Makata, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Angelo Davids.

• Four players – Impi Visser, Werner Kok, Branco du Preez and Justin Geduld – played in all 10 tournaments.

• Kok (131) was the leading tackler in the series. Geduld (92) made the second most tackles for the Blitzboks.

• Siviwe Soyizwapi became the 19th player to captain the Blitzboks in the World Series when he was named leader of the pack for the last four tournaments of the series.

2018/19 Season Stats:

Most tries:

  1. Siviwe Soyizwapi 33
  2. Werner Kok 22
  3. Muller du Plessis 20

Most conversions:

  1. Selvyn Davids 56
  2. Branco du Preez 40
  3. Justin Geduld 14
  4. Dewald Human 14

Most points:

  1. Selvyn Davids 203
  2. Siviwe Soyizwapi 165
  3. Branco du Preez 140

Team Stats:

Tries: 212 (4th)

Tackles made: 837 (4th)

Tackle completion rate: 72% (4th)

A summary of the Blitzboks results in 2018/19 are:

Tournament 1: Dubai, 30 November - 1 December 2018

SA results: bt Zimbabwe 31-0, bt Samoa 19-12, lost to Argentina 12-17, lost to England 5-22 (QF Cup), bt Scotland 29-0 ( 5th Place SF); lost to Fiji 19-24 (5th Place Playoff).

Tournament 2: Cape Town, South Africa, 8-9 December 2018

SA results: bt Samoa 22-12, bt Zimbabwe 43-0; lost to New Zealand 21-26, bt Scotland 21-12 (QF Cup), lost to Fiji 12-17 (SF Cup), bt New Zealand 10-5 (Bronze final).

Tournament 3: Hamilton, New Zealand, 26-27 January 2019

SA results: bt Kenya 29-10, bt France 17-5, bt Scotland 26-7, bt Samoa 28-19 (QF Cup), lost to Fiji 7-29 (SF Cup), lost to New Zealand 7-29 (Bronze final).

Tournament 4: Sydney, Australia, 2-3 February 2019

SA results: bt Tonga 45-5, bt Argentina 25-10, lost to Australia 21-29, lost to England 5-26 (QF Cup), bt Spain 33-0 (5th Place SF), lost to Australia 10-12 (5th Place Playoff).

Tournament 5: Las Vegas, USA, 2-4 March 2019

SA results: bt Japan 26-0, drew Chile 5-5, lost to England 12-29, lost to USA 10-29 (QF Cup), lost to Fiji 12-14 (5th Place SF).

Tournament 6: Vancouver, Canada, 9-10 March 2018

SA results: bt Chile 43-0, bt Wales 19-10, bt USA 19-7, bt Argentina 33-12 (QF Cup), bt Fiji 31-12 (SF Cup), bt France 21-12 (Cup final).

Tournament 7: Hong Kong, China, 5-7 April 2019

SA results: bt Japan 22-7, bt Scotland 26-10, bt Samoa 21-7, lost USA 12-21 (QF Cup), lost to Argentina 17-19 (5th Place S-F).

Tournament 8: Singapore, 13-14 April 2019

SA results: bt Scotland 36-10, bt Canada 36-0, bt Fiji 17-7, bt Samoa 21-12 (QF Cup), bt USA 24-12 (SF Cup), bt Fiji 20-19 (Cup final).

Tournament 9: London, England, 25-26 May 2019

SA results: bt Japan 49-0, bt Canada 45-14, bt Argentina 40-21, lost to Australia 22-29 (QF Cup), lost to New Zealand 17-21 (5th Place SF).         

Tournament 10: Paris, France, 1-2 June 2019

SA results: bt Wales 22-7, bt Kenya 29-12, bt Australia 19-17, bt Samoa 40-7 (QF Cup), lost to New Zealand 7-33 (Cup SF), bt USA 24-7 (Bronze final).