As the Blitzboks prepare to push for a first-ever Sevens World Cup gold medal in Cape Town this weekend, take a look back at their history in the tournament.
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1993
South Africa finished in fifth place overall at the inaugural Sevens World Cup in Scotland.
After winning all five of their Pool A fixtures, South Africa progressed to a Cup quarter-final pool consisting of Australia, New Zealand and England.
While South Africa did manage to beat New Zealand (31-14), they lost to Australia and England and did not progress to the semi-finals.
1997
The 1997 Sevens World Cup hosted by Hong Kong would be South Africa’s best performance at the tournament.
A team captained by Joost van der Westhuizen also included Springboks Breyton Paulse, Pieter Rossouw, Bobby Skinstad and Andre Venter.
South Africa topped Pool B which included the hosts and Ireland, progressing to the quarter-finals where they claimed a 19-14 win over France. In the semi-finals, South Africa powered to a 31-7 win over New Zealand to set up a final against Fiji. Despite a strong performance from the South Africans, it was Fiji who claimed the title with a 24-21 victory.
2001
Much like in 1993, South Africa gave a good account of themselves in the pool stages, going unbeaten, before faltering at the first round of playoffs.
This time, the Springbok Sevens met Argentina in the quarter-finals, but suffered a 14-12 loss.
2005
Once again hosted by Hong Kong, the Springbok Sevens team went into the 2005 edition boasting a squad with Fabian Juries, Mzwandile Stick and Marius Schoeman.
However, they would again suffer disappointment, losing 15-14 to Australia in the quarter-finals.
2009
Captained by Kyle Brown and featuring the likes of Frankie Horne, Neil Powell, Paul Delport, Gio Aplon and Philip Snyman, the Blitzboks were among the favourites for the 2009 World Cup in Dubai.
In a tough group campaign, South Africa battled to wins over Canada and Scotland to top the pool. However, lying in wait in the quarter-finals were Argentina and the South Americans again upset the odds to claim a 14-12 win.
2013
Once again captained by Kyle Brown, a Blitzbok side with Cheslin Kolbe, Seabelo Senatla and Cecil Afrika powered through the group stages, not conceding a point in any of their pool matches against hosts Russia as well as Scotland and Japan.
However, Brown was controversially cited and banned for an alleged eye gouge and the incident took its toll on the team as they lost by one conversion to Fiji in the quarter-finals.
2018
The 2018 edition of the World Cup in San Francisco was the first to introduce the ‘winner takes all’ knockout competition format.
Led by Philip Snyman, the Blitzboks started strongly by beating Ireland 45-7 in the round of 16 and Scotland 36-5 in the quarter-finals. However, they became unstuck in the semi-final against England, suffering a 29-7 loss.
Still, Snyman and his teammates finished the tournament with a 24-19 win over Fiji to secure the bronze medal, their second-best finish at a Sevens World Cup.
Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images
