Fresh off becoming the fourth South African to win the World Sevens Player of the Season award, Tristan Leyds made a bold claim, that the Blitzboks were targeting gold at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Leyds joined previous winners Cecil Afrika (2011), Werner Kok (2015) and Seabelo Senatla (2016) in picking up the biggest individual Sevens award, and admitted it was an emotional moment when coach Philip Snyman told him he had won on Saturday.
He was then able to celebrate the award with his family, including his wife, parents and brother Dillyn (former Springbok, Stormers and current La Rochelle star), who were all in the crowd when he received the award after the Bordeaux Sevens concluded on Sunday.
“That made it all the more special. The daily support I get from my wife often gets me going when the body is tired, while my parents have always been there supporting me,” said Leyds.
“And what can I say about Dillyn, he always calls me ‘the better Leyds’ on his social media posts and that means a lot. I mean, he is a Springbok, he won the Champions Cup twice with La Rochelle, and was named Player of the Final, so yes, maybe I did step a bit out of his shadow by winning Player of the Year.”
Season highlights
Leyds thanked his teammates, especially Snyman and Blitzbok assistant coach Renfred Dazel for their influence on his career and making him a better player, while he also said winning the Cape Town Sevens back-to-back and triumphing in Hong Kong were season highlights.
“I came here three years ago and from the start coach Phil backed me. At the start of this season I told him I want to be the best 10 on the circuit. He asked me: ‘Why not the best player in the world?’, something that really got me thinking,” explained Leyds.
“Coach Renfred is always there with his experience and technical inputs, and I am continuously learning from him as well. It really has been a remarkable journey.
“One of the things you want to try and do is to set new standards, and with this team the standard is already so high with everything they have achieved.
“Doing the Cape Town double and winning in Hong Kong were special and has not been done before, and to be part of that was another of many boxes I ticked since I joined the squad.”
Looking to the Blitzboks’ future, Leyds said he hoped he would be around to help the team win Olympic gold: “I got that bronze with the team in Paris (at the 2024 Games) and realised how big it could be for us in 2028. We have not (yet) set that goal and hopefully I can still be around when that squad is selected.”
Overall it has been a terrific season for the Blitzboks, winning both the Sevens World Series and Sevens World Championship titles.
Event wins this season
They won four events in the World Seris this season, in Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver and New York, while they picked up a first ever win in Hong Kong in the World Championship, showing their overall dominance as they clinched five out of nine events across both tournaments.
“I am so very, very proud of this team, and to win both the World Series and the World Championship is a special feat indeed,” said coach Snyman about his team’s efforts.
“The fact that we won the Hong Kong tournament for the first time ever was probably the highlight of the World Championship, and along with playing in the final last weekend, that laid the foundation for us to retain our World Championship status.”
Snyman also praised Leyds for his big win, as well as the team’s top try scorer, Shilton van Wyk, who was named in the World Sevens Dream Team.
“He (Leyds) is a worthy winner. I played with all three previous winners – Cecil Afrika, Werner Kok, and Seabelo Senatla – and coached Tristan. He is right up there with the best,” said Snyman.
“I am very happy for Shilton too, named alongside Tristan in the Dream Team. If I had my way, the seven players would all be from the Blitzboks, but then, I am biased after all.”
