The Blitzboks survived a huge scare before beating Spain 33-14 in their opening match at the 2025-26 SVNS series at HBF Park in Perth, Australia. The half-time score was 12-7.
The Blitzboks started strongly and from a scrum in the second minute, Tristan Leyds put Shilton van Wyk into the gap to race through from the 22m line and score under the posts. Ricardo Duarttee landed the conversion for an early 7-0 lead.
Van Wyk then almost grabbed a second two minutes later but was hauled in just short of the line. South Africa swung the ball wide to the opposite flank where David Britz crossed unopposed.
But Spain came back strongly and wave after wave of attack finally saw the Blitzboks defence cracked and Jeremy Trevithick scampered through under the posts as the hooter sounded. A conversion by Juan Ramos saw Spain back to within a score at half-time.
Continuing from where they left off
Spain started the second stanza as they had finished the first, on the attack, and within two minutes Trevithick was over again in the corner. Ramos landed a stunning conversion to give Spain a shock 14-12 lead.
Spain was again on the attack after the restart but a timely interception by Ryan Oosthuizen saw the Blitzboks turn defence into attack and Zain Davids was on hand to round off to round off. The conversion by Duarttee saw the Boks back in front 19-14 with around three minutes left.
Zander Reynders then burst through a tiring Spain defence to make the game safe for the Blitzboks as SA eased into a 26-14 lead with the conversion by Donovan Don. There was still time for Luan Giliomee to score his first try in the SVNS series and the conversion by Don saw the final score 33-14.
The Blitzboks are looking to bounce back after an underwhelming fourth-place finish in Singapore. South Africa’s remaining pool matches are against Argentina and Singapore champions Fiji.
This story was first published on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission.
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