The Old Diocesan Issue 13 - Magazine - Page 80
Tristan Leyds streaks towards the tryline in
the Blitzboks’ 26–14 semifinal win over New
Zealand at the Hong Kong Sevens in April.
WORLD CHAMPION:
TRISTAN LEYDS
The Blitzboks are ruling the sevens world, and their on-field general
is Tristan Leyds, selected as Player of the Year in June. He brought
his medal haul back home to Bishops. By Tim Richman
I
sit down with Tristan Leyds
(2015S) in The Mitre on a rainy
day in July, and as we look
from our window table across
the empty Avenue field to his
alma domus, School House, with
the slate roof of the War Memorial
Chapel rising beyond, the scene is
grey and foreboding. The panoramic
equivalent of double Chemistry.
Happily, Tristan has come armed
with an antidote to the gloom.
76 | THE OLD DIOCESAN
I’ve asked him, as the recently
crowned 2026 HSBC SVNS Men’s
Player of the Year, to bring along
the medals he’s collected as a
member of the current vintage of
all-conquering Blitzboks, and as he
digs them out of his bag, our table
comes to life with a haul of gold
medallions, colourful ribbons
and two striking trophies.
In walks OD Ambassador Paul
Murray to say hello, followed by
ODU Director Andy Wood, and
suddenly the room is buzzing. Paul
is even more pleased than usual
to welcome an OD home, because
Tristan isn’t just a world champion
OD; he’s a world champion Hendrik
Louw Primary old boy. Paul, it turns
out, spent his junior school career at
Hendrik Louw in Strand, enjoying
athletics and rugby, like Tristan.
Photos are, of course, required
to mark this historic occasion.
