The Springbok Sevens side bounced back from their earlier shock defeat at the hands of Great Britain to beat Kenya 26-5 in a powerful performance at the Bordeaux Sevens on Friday night. The Blitzboks had lost in extra time to Great Britain, denting their hopes of winning the World Championship, but the performance in the second game against a physical Kenyan side was something special, as they showed determination and savvy to ensure the victory. The fact that Kenya scored with the last play of
the game makes the scoreline look better, but this was a very good performance by the Blitzboks against a side that perennially has given them problems. A brace of tries each by Shilton van Wyk and Quewin Nortje, where both at least once backed their speed to get them to the tryline, was enough to give the Blitzboks a vital win and set up a showdown with South Sea magicians Fiji on Saturday. A strong response from the #Blitzboks in Bordeaux 💪🇿🇦 All eyes on
tomorrow’s final pool fixture. #HSBCSVNS #PoweredByUnity pic.twitter.com/lb0XcwHG3m — Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) June 5, 2026 The Blitzboks know that if they lose, and Great Britain beat Kenya, then they may not qualify for the quarterfinals and then their hopes of the World Championship title would be gone. The first Bok try came from Van Wyk, seeing a gap and backing his speed between two players to score, and he followed that up four minutes later to add his second and put his side 14-0 up. Nortje
took over in the second half, with the first one almost identical to Van Wyk’s opener, while the second was a simple run in, which he turned into seven when he saw Kenya had left him alone in the corner and he could run the ball to under the posts. That left the Blitzboks 26-0 up with Kenya scoring at the end, but leaving a mouthwatering Saturday for them to look forward to. The Blitzboks face Fiji at 11:06am. The South African Women’s team lost
42-0 to New Zealand, adding to their earlier loss to France and will need a good performance against Argentina in their final game to try and get some pride back.
Blitzboks, Kenya, Bordeaux Sevens, HSBC Sevens Series, Shilton van Wyk, Quewin Nortje, Fiji, South Africa Sevens, 26-5, World Championship qualification