Perth Sevens: Blitzboks aim for redemption after Singapore setback

The Springbok Sevens are back in action this weekend at the Perth Sevens, determined to put a disappointing performance in last weekend’s Singapore leg of the World Series behind them.

The Blitzboks are focused on cleaning up the uncharacteristic mistakes that let them down in the absence of key playmakers and returning to the high standards that saw them dominate December’s Cape Town leg.

Captain Siviwe Soyizwapi, who will play in his 62nd World Series tournament when he leads the team out at HBF Park—equalling head coach Philip Snyman’s tally of appearances—acknowledged the team’s frustrations but insisted they are using the Singapore setback as motivation.

The Blitzboks lost to France in Sunday’s Cup semi-final and to New Zealand in the third-place play-off. Fiji were crowned champions after beating France in the final.

“We know how much potential we have as a group, so making silly errors is frustrating,” Soyizwapi said, at the captains’ photo at Scarborough Beach, ahead of the tournament.

"We don’t mind the odd bad call that comes our way, that will happen, but dropping a ball or making a bad pass or missing a tackle – those things are on us and no one else can be blamed for that

The Blitzboks will face Spain, Argentina, and Fiji in Pool A, with Argentina the only new opponent since Singapore.

“The teams know each other by now and tactically each one will be well aware of what the others bring to the game. We still have some things up our sleeve, but so will the other teams. We need to be strategic and better in our execution to be successful,” Soyizwapi added.

Forward Ryan Oosthuizen echoed the captain’s focus on accountability and self-correction.

“When we flow, we are very tough to beat, we know that, but playing against ourselves like we did last weekend created the opposite for us,” Oosthuizen said.

“We have seen in Cape Town how tough it is for other teams to beat us when we get it right, so delivering a 40 or 50% effort compared to that was disappointing.”

The players will have a day off on Thursday, offering a chance to clear heads and enjoy a bit of sightseeing in Perth, before they turn their full attention to the weekend’s high-intensity action.

Both Soyizwapi and Oosthuizen are confident that with improved execution, attention to detail, and tactical discipline, the Blitzboks are ready to deliver the performances their fans expect.

“We will have a day off tomorrow and that down time will come in handy as we could go sightseeing a bit, but the mindset is pretty much on fixing what went wrong last time around. We messed up, so we need to fix that ourselves,” Soyizwapi said.

With redemption high on the agenda, the Perth Sevens presents the perfect opportunity for the Blitzboks to regain momentum in the 2026 HSBC Sevens Series. They are currently in third place in the standings on 46 points – six points behind series leaders Fiji.