South Africa: Fact file

Form guide

South Africa's women's team finished the regular season in 11th and travelled to Madrid needing to win back their core team status in the SVNS Play-off, a feat they did not manage to achieve as they lost out to Spain 22-0 in the decisive match. However, they travel to Paris buoyed by the prospect of playing a first-ever Olympic tournament.

South Africa's men qualified for Paris 2024 at the final opportunity, the repechage competition in Monaco, beating Great Britain 14-5 in a tense men’s final. Earlier in the season, they won the opening event of SVNS 2024 in Dubai but failed to maintain that level and finished the regular season in seventh place, retaining their core team status. They finished the season on a high by beating Australia 24-21 to finish fifth at the season-ending Grand Final in Madrid, momentum they took into the repechage competition.

Star dust

Sevens commentator and reporter Rob Vickerman says: "Of all the women's sevens players, Nadine Roos is likely to cover the most grass in Paris. The cross-fit champion continually motivates her team with boundless energy. In the men's side, although he was ultimately beaten to the gong by Antoine Dupont, Quewin Nortje was nominated for SVNS Newcomer of Year. He top-scored for South Africa with 90 points ahead of the influential Selvyn Davids (78) and both are likely to be key players in Paris, if fit and well."

Road to Paris 2024

South Africa’s women won the Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens regional qualifying tournament in Tunisia, beating Zimbabwe (26-0), Uganda (19-0) and Tunisia (27-7) in pool play before rounding off the tournament with a 12-7 win against Kenya. The country's men qualified for Paris 2024 at the last chance saloon, the Monaco repechage, beating Great Britain 14-5 in a tense men’s final.

Previous Olympics

While South Africa's women have never competed at an Olympic Games, the country's men competed at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, taking bronze in Brazil.