Blitsbokke win first Hong Kong Sevens title after defeating Argentina

South Africa's sevens team claimed a 35–7 victory in the final after earlier edging past New Zealand in the semi-finals.

South Africa won the Hong Kong Sevens tournament for the first time on Sunday, defeating Argentina 35–7 in a one-sided final.²

The Blitsbokke had earlier advanced to the final with a 26–14 semi-final victory over New Zealand, a match in which they absorbed early pressure before Tristan Leyds scored the opening try.¹ New Zealand's Roderick Solo was shown a yellow card just before halftime for tackling Selvyn Davids without the ball, and South Africa capitalised on their numerical advantage when Sebastiaan Jobb scored to make the halftime score 14–0.¹ Shilton van Wyk extended the lead in the second half, and Ryan Oosthuizen added a fourth try.¹

In the final, Leyds again opened the scoring in the opening minutes after gathering a kick, while Davids' first try also originated from a calculated kick.² Impi Visser was among the standout performers in the match.²

South Africa's path to the final included a dramatic 26–22 quarter-final win over Kenya, in which the African side took the lead early in the second half through tries by Kevin Nyongesa and Festus Safari.³ The Blitzbokke made numerous errors that Kenya exploited, but Quewin Nortjé, returning from injury, kept South Africa within striking distance with his footwork.³ Former captain Shakes Soyizwapi also appeared in the match.³

South Africa kick the ball more than any other sevens team and use it both to gain territory and as an attacking weapon to score points.² The Hong Kong tournament victory adds to a series of recent wins that saw the Blitzbokke claim overall honours in the season series and marks their first World Championship circuit stop win in Hong Kong.²