The South Africans fought back from behind to beat Argentina in the semi-finals before a late comeback against France fell just short in the gold medal match.
Dakar, Senegal (03 November 2026) – South Africa’s U17 Sevens team claimed the silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, after an impressive run to Monday’s final.
The young South Africans showed plenty of character to book their place in the gold medal match, producing a strong comeback to defeat Argentina 24-12 in the semi-finals. However, despite another determined fightback against France, they eventually went down 26-19 to settle for second place.
The semi-final looked challenging for South Africa after Argentina raced into a 12-0 lead. Darnell Delport gave the South Africans a way back into the contest with a try just before half-time, leaving them trailing 12-5 at the break.
They returned with renewed purpose in the second half, with Kingsley Pule crossing the line before Rosco Williams added two tries of his own. Both of Williams’ efforts were converted by Jake Dave as South Africa scored four unanswered tries to turn the match around and secure their place in the final.
France, meanwhile, booked its spot in the decider with a commanding 58-0 victory over Canada.
The final proved a tougher challenge for the South Africans, with France opening the scoring in the second minute. Delport responded almost immediately, but the French side continued to apply pressure and went into half-time with a 21-5 advantage.
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South Africa refused to give up, though. Dave crossed for a try with two minutes remaining and added the conversion to reduce the deficit to 21-12.
The comeback gathered further momentum when Dave found another gap in the French defence following a scrum, scoring and converting to bring South Africa within two points at 21-19 with just a minute left.
Unfortunately, a costly error from the restart gave France one final opportunity, and the Europeans crossed for a try on the hooter to seal the 26-19 victory and claim gold.
While the final result did not go their way, the South African youngsters can take plenty of pride from their silver-medal performance and the fighting spirit they displayed throughout the competition.
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