branco du preez blitzboks sevens

Branco du Preez reaches out for a try against Wales during the 2019 Paris Sevens. Photo: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby

Paris Sevens 2019: Blitzboks and all other results on day one

The Blitzboks finished unbeaten while Fiji ran riot as the 2018-19 World Series Sevens draws to a close in Paris.

branco du preez blitzboks sevens

Branco du Preez reaches out for a try against Wales during the 2019 Paris Sevens. Photo: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby

Standing next to the other 15 captains at the Paris Sevens official captains’ photo earlier on Wednesday, Springbok Sevens captain Siviwe Soyizwapi looked up at the Eiffel Tower and was immediately impressed by the iconic landmark.

The sight of the famous French landmark inspired the Blitzbok speedster and he hopes for more inspiration on Saturday and Sunday, when the final tournament of the World Rugby Sevens Series is played at Stade Jean-Bouin.

“We would like to finish the season well,” said Soyizwapi.

“It was an up and down season for us. We had a lot of new players coming in, which impacted on our consistency, but crucially we managed to achieve our goal of a top four finish.”

That means automatic qualification to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, but before the Blitzboks can start celebrating that, they still have a title to defend.

Their epic win over England in last year’s final in Paris is still seen as one of the great performances of the World Series and nothing would please Soyizwapi more if they can finish well again.

“We want to look back at our last tournament of the season as one we can proud of. We want to go out and do it for each other one more time,” he said.

The Blitzboks were given some homework by their coach, Neil Powell, this week. They had to analyse their performances in London and the captain said all benefitted from the exercise.

“It was part of the mental side of our preparation and added to the training sessions we had on the field. The three new guys came in nice and early, so we trained well with little disruptions,” Soyizwapi said.

Paris Sevens: Fixtures and results from day one

TimeTeamResultTeam
11:00Canada 7s19-21Samoa 7s
11:22USA 7s31-7Spain 7s
11:44South Africa 7s22-7Wales 7s
12:06Australia 7s19-19Kenya 7s
12:28Ireland 7s7-22Argentina 7s
12:50Fiji 7s52-41England 7s
13:12New Zealand 7s14-12Scotland 7s
13:34France 7s14-17Japan 7s
14:26Canada 7s19-24Spain 7s
14:48USA 7s33-14Samoa 7s
15:10South Africa 7s29-12Kenya 7s
15:32Australia 7s7-24Wales 7s
15:54Ireland 7s27-14England 7s
16:16Fiji 7s40-26Argentina 7s
16:38New Zealand 7s31-14Japan 7s
17:00France 7s28-12Scotland 7s
17:52Samoa 7s31-12Spain 7s
18:14USA 7s26-12Canada 7s
18:36Wales 7s21-26Kenya 7s
18:58Australia 7s17-19South Africa 7s
19:20Argentina 7s31-19England 7s
19:42Fiji 7s40-5Ireland 7s
20:04Scotland 7s22-21Japan 7s
20:26France 7s10-17New Zealand 7s