SA Crowned the 2024 Ignition Group Polocrosse World Cup Champions!

Photo Credit: Shannon Gilson Photography

South Africa earned its 3rd Polocrosse World Cup over the weekend, beating Australia by a single point for the title.

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (29 July 2024) — In a nail-biting 2024 Ignition Group Polocrosse World Cup final on Sunday, South Africa narrowly beat reigning champions Australia 29-28, earning them a third World Cup title. Sunday’s final concluded a fantastic competition that ran from 17 to 28 July at the Durban Shongweni Club in the Valley of 1000 Hills.

Spectators were kept on the edge of their seats during what turned out to be one of the closest finals in the history of the Polocrosse World Cup. South Africa came out of the first chukka five goals down, with the men coming in to close that gap, building the momentum from there. Chukka four to seven, it was one goal in and in Chukka eight, Australia went up by two, followed by two goals from South Africa to equalise, followed by the winning goal in the final seconds before the bell rang.

Man of the Match, South Africa’s Chad von Beneke commented:

“It was a tight game all the way through, but our team pulled through in the end. We started a couple of goals down, and Australia came out firing, but it was an unbelievable performance by the South African team. We can’t thank South Africa enough for the support!”

Speaking at the prizegiving, the SA team captain and four-time South Africa World Cup player, Jan-Albert, commented:

“For me, personally, it is the pinnacle of polocrosse to come up against a side as good as [the Australians] are, I feel it brings out the best in players and it was an honour playing against you today. It’s been an unbelievable day for me, as I come to the end of my international career, I couldn’t have scripted it better.”

Dr Manfred Rohwer, President of The Polocrosse Association of South Africa, commented that he was so proud of South Africa for hosting the World Cup and for all the supporters

“Thank you very much to the SA team for pulling it off, to the South African supporters for coming out, and to all of the organisers over the last year, this has been a fantastic achievement. I’m so proud!”

Visitors to the Durban Shongweni Club have enjoyed the world-class polocrosse action, which started with a round-robin format and culminated in this home-side win. There was also great action as the South African Development side took on a Rest of the World Barbarian side, featuring players from South America, Canada, and Europe, among others. There were also great pop-up stalls selling handcrafted goods, great live entertainment, and live broadcasts by East Coast Radio.