Just Plain Sport

🇿🇦 TRISTAN LEYDS NAMED HSBC SVNS MEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR AT BORDEAUX AWARDS CEREMONY

Springbok Sevens flyhalf Tristan Leyds has been named the HSBC SVNS Men’s Player of the Year for the 2025/26 season, with the award confirmed at the season-ending ceremony in Bordeaux, France, following the HSBC SVNS World Championship Final.

Leyds saw off competition from Australia’s Henry Hutchison and Fiji’s Vuiviwa Naduvalo to claim the honour, which is voted on and presented in partnership with HSBC.

The award caps a remarkable individual season for the 24-year-old Somerset West-born playmaker, who was the creative heartbeat of a Blitzboks side that dominated the SVNS circuit for much of the campaign.

The numbers behind his season tell a compelling story.

According to SA Rugby’s official statistics, Leyds recorded the following across the 2025/26 HSBC SVNS series:

• Tries: 15
• Conversions: 22
• Points scored: 119
• Metres made: 1,578
• Ball carries: 129
• Defenders beaten: 40
• Tackles made: 123

The Blitzboks won four consecutive tournament titles during the season — in Perth, Vancouver, New York and Hong Kong — with Leyds a driving force in each, combining sharp tactical kicking with incisive playmaking in the number ten channel.

He earned Player of the Final honours at Vancouver after controlling the pace of a dominant 38-12 victory over Spain, and delivered a match-winning try deep into extra time against Great Britain in the Valladolid pool stages.

South Africa went on to finish runners-up in Valladolid before heading to Bordeaux as the number one seed for the World Championship Final.

Leyds made his Blitzbok debut in Perth in 2024 and comes from a family steeped in rugby, with older brother Dillyn Leyds having represented the Springboks in fifteens and enjoyed a successful club career in France with Stade Rochelais.

Tristan’s own medal cabinet already includes a bronze from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and a HSBC SVNS World Championship gold from the previous season.

His Player of the Year award is the latest individual recognition in what has been a breakout season for South African sevens rugby.

🇿🇦 WELL DONE BULLS!! 🔥🔥🔥

🏆 THE BLITZBOKS ARE HSBC SVNS WORLD CHAMPIONS!!! 🔥🔥🔥

🇿🇦 DAY 1 -BLITZBOKS RESULTS IN BORDEAUX 🏉

The Blitzboks have been drawn in Pool A, and all three matches are live on SuperSport at South African times:

📅 Friday 5 June — 15h06: South Africa vs Great Britain
📅 Friday 5 June — 20h36: South Africa vs Kenya
📅 Saturday 6 June — 11h06: South Africa vs Fiji

HERE'S WHAT THE HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD SAYS GOING IN:

vs Great Britain — Played 17, won 12. Average score 21–12. Last match: Valladolid 2026 — won 17–12.
vs Kenya — Played 73, won 64. Average score 26–10. Last match: Valladolid 2026 — won 14–0.
vs Fiji — Played 111, won 46. Average score 16–17. Last match: New York 2026 Cup final — won 10–7.

HERE IS THE FULL SQUAD PHILIP SNYMAN HAS NAMED FOR BORDEAUX:

#2 Ryan Oosthuizen — 64 tournaments | 290 points | 58 tries
#3 Impi Visser (Captain) — 52 tournaments | 245 points | 49 tries
#4 Zain Davids — 59 tournaments | 255 points | 51 tries
#5 Ricardo Duarttee — 24 tournaments | 389 points | 26 tries | 127 conversions
#8 Selvyn Davids — 48 tournaments | 793 points | 107 tries | 129 conversions
#10 Dewald Human — 33 tournaments | 330 points | 30 tries | 90 conversions
#11 Siviwe Soyizwapi — 66 tournaments | 805 points | 161 tries
#12 Shilton van Wyk — 34 tournaments | 385 points | 77 tries
#14 Quewin Nortje — 14 tournaments | 170 points | 34 tries
#15 Donavan Don — 15 tournaments | 123 points | 23 tries
#16 Sebastiaan Jobb — 10 tournaments | 100 points | 20 tries
#19 David Brits — 16 tournaments | 60 points | 12 tries
#24 Tristan Leyds — 19 tournaments | 249 points | 31 tries | 47 conversions
#31 Jayden Nell — 3 tournaments | 5 points | 1 try

The form coming into this tournament is impossible to ignore. Shilton van Wyk leads the entire season with 125 points and 35 tries — both circuit highs. Tristan Leyds is second on the season's points table with 119. Ricardo Duarttee is third with 89. Sebastiaan Jobb is second in the season's try-scoring chart with 17. This is a squad with a point to prove in Bordeaux.

Back the Blitzboks this weekend. 💚💛🏉

Just Plain Sport | 5 June 2026 | Written by Jay | JPS

🇿🇦 DANIE ROSSOUW TURNS 48 🇿🇦 THE MAN WHO SAVED THE WORLD CUP 🏉

There are rugby players who do their jobs quietly, in the shadows of the scoreboard.

And then there are those who, in a single moment of desperate, committed brilliance, change the course of history. Danie Rossouw belongs firmly in the second category.

Born on this very day, 5 June 1978, in Sabie, Mpumalanga, he turns 48 today.. Happy Birthday, Danie.

🎙️ FULL STORY: https://justplainsport.com/rugby/danie-rossouw-turns-48-the-man-who-saved-the-world-cup/

🇿🇦 THE BLITZBOKS ARE IN BORDEAUX — AND THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE IS WITHIN REACH! 🏉

South Africa head into the HSBC SVNS Bordeaux tournament as World Championship leaders with 38 points on the board — four clear of Argentina in second, with Australia on 30 and a three-way tie between Fiji, Spain, and New Zealand on 26.

France and Kenya complete the top eight on 14 points each. The title race is very much alive, and this weekend matters.

The Blitzboks have been drawn in Pool A, and all three matches are live on SuperSport at South African times:

📅 Friday 5 June — 15h06: South Africa vs Great Britain
📅 Friday 5 June — 20h36: South Africa vs Kenya
📅 Saturday 6 June — 11h06: South Africa vs Fiji

HERE'S WHAT THE HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD SAYS GOING IN:

vs Great Britain — Played 17, won 12. Average score 21–12. Last match: Valladolid 2026 — won 17–12.
vs Kenya — Played 73, won 64. Average score 26–10. Last match: Valladolid 2026 — won 14–0.
vs Fiji — Played 111, won 46. Average score 16–17. Last match: New York 2026 Cup final — won 10–7.

The Blitzboks left Valladolid without the trophy after a 26–19 final defeat to Australia — a result that will have stung. But they left Spain still leading the World Championship standings, and Bordeaux is where they respond.

HERE IS THE FULL SQUAD PHILIP SNYMAN HAS NAMED FOR BORDEAUX:

#2 Ryan Oosthuizen — 64 tournaments | 290 points | 58 tries
#3 Impi Visser (Captain) — 52 tournaments | 245 points | 49 tries
#4 Zain Davids — 59 tournaments | 255 points | 51 tries
#5 Ricardo Duarttee — 24 tournaments | 389 points | 26 tries | 127 conversions
#8 Selvyn Davids — 48 tournaments | 793 points | 107 tries | 129 conversions
#10 Dewald Human — 33 tournaments | 330 points | 30 tries | 90 conversions
#11 Siviwe Soyizwapi — 66 tournaments | 805 points | 161 tries
#12 Shilton van Wyk — 34 tournaments | 385 points | 77 tries
#14 Quewin Nortje — 14 tournaments | 170 points | 34 tries
#15 Donavan Don — 15 tournaments | 123 points | 23 tries
#16 Sebastiaan Jobb — 10 tournaments | 100 points | 20 tries
#19 David Brits — 16 tournaments | 60 points | 12 tries
#24 Tristan Leyds — 19 tournaments | 249 points | 31 tries | 47 conversions
#31 Jayden Nell — 3 tournaments | 5 points | 1 try

The form coming into this tournament is impossible to ignore. Shilton van Wyk leads the entire season with 125 points and 35 tries — both circuit highs. Tristan Leyds is second on the season's points table with 119. Ricardo Duarttee is third with 89. Sebastiaan Jobb is second in the season's try-scoring chart with 17. This is a squad with a point to prove in Bordeaux.

Four points clear. Three pool matches. One goal.

Back the Blitzboks this weekend. 💚💛🏉

Just Plain Sport | 5 June 2026 | Written by Jay | JPS

🏆 BULLS SCRUMHALF EMBROSE PAPIER NAMED SA VODACOM URC PLAYER OF THE SEASON 🏉

Vodacom Bulls scrumhalf Embrose Papier has been named the South African Vodacom URC Player of the Season for the 2025/26 campaign, capping a remarkable personal resurgence for the 29-year-old.

Papier’s selection was determined by votes from the Springbok coaching staff, South Africa’s four franchise coaches, and broadcast commentators — a panel that unanimously recognised his standout contribution throughout the season.

🎙️ FULL STORY: https://justplainsport.com/rugby/bulls-scrumhalf-embrose-papier-named-sa-vodacom-urc-player-of-the-season/

🇿🇦 LOOD DE JAGER SET FOR LONG-AWAITED RETURN AS SPRINGBOK LOCK CRISIS DEEPENS!🦌

Lood de Jager is set to make his long-awaited return to rugby this weekend, offering Rassie Erasmus a rare piece of good news amid a mounting injury crisis in the Springbok second row.

The veteran lock has been named to start for Panasonic Wild Knights in Saturday’s Japan Rugby League One third-place playoff — his first appearance of 2026 and one that arrives significantly ahead of schedule.

Initial reports had suggested the 33-year-old would only be available again in August...

🎙️ FULL STORY: https://justplainsport.com/rugby/lood-de-jager-return-springbok-lock-injury-nations-championship/

🎉 HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHAN ACKERMANN - ONE OF SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY’S GREAT BUILDERS! 🏉

Born in Benoni on 3 June 1970, Johan’s journey through rugby has been one of extraordinary resilience.

From his early days at the Police College in Pretoria, to 13 Springbok caps, to guiding the Lions to three consecutive Super Rugby finals, to coaching in England and Japan — and now, finally, home as head coach of the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld...

🎙️ FULL STORY: https://justplainsport.com/rugby/johan-ackermann-turns-56-from-benoni-to-loftus-a-builder-of-men/

🇿🇦 FIVE SOUTH AFRICANS - ONE MASSIVE DAY! 🎾

Kholo Montsi took down a third seed from a set down.

Philip Henning was simply untouchable. Badenhorst, Beckley and Van Schalkwyk all backed it up with straight-set wins.

And if that wasn’t enough — Montsi and Van Schalkwyk went and knocked out the fourth seeds in doubles too.

This is South African tennis firing on all cylinders — right here in Pretoria, on home soil, in front of home fans.

Read the full story on Just Plain Sport. Link in the comments. 🇿🇦