Rosko Specman and the uncapped Dylan Sage were on Monday added to the
Springbok Sevens squad as injury cover for Werner Kok and Cecil Afrika.
The duo joined the Blitzboks squad on Monday afternoon at their team
hotel in Cape Town. Kok, the current World Rugby Sevens Player of the
Year, sustained a knee injury in
Dubai over the past weekend, while
Afrika has a troublesome hamstring.
South Africa returned home on Sunday after winning the Plate Final at the season opening Dubai Sevens tournament on Saturday.
The Blitzboks are the defending SA tournament champions and will be
aiming for a third home title in a row when the inaugural HSBC Cape Town
Sevens will be staged at the 55 000-seater Cape Town Stadium this
coming Saturday and Sunday.
The sold-out event is the second round of the World Series which
consists of ten tournaments across the globe. The rest of the
participating teams arrived late on Monday afternoon in the Mother City.
Specman was one of the standout players for the Saru Sevens Academy
squad, the Samurais, during their successful campaign at the Dubai
International tournament this past weekend.
He has played in six HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments so far
for South Africa and also starred for the Steval Pumas in the Absa
Currie Cup competition.
The 23-year old Sage played Varsity Cup rugby for the University of Cape
Town (Ikeys) earlier this year and is equally at home in the backline
as well as among the Sevens forwards.
After spending a night at home, the Springbok Sevens reassembled on
Monday afternoon at their Waterfront hotel in the city. They also had a
good workout in a nearby gym.
Neil Powell, the Blitzboks’ coach, said his squad have put their Dubai
quarterfinal loss behind them and are now looking forward to playing in
Cape Town.
“The guys are glad to be home and you could immediately see that they
are embracing the prospects of playing in front of our home fans. We are
looking forward to a good week in Cape Town,” said Powell.
He added: “I think the guys responded really well after the USA defeat
and played with a lot of pride and character to win the Plate. We
realise there will always be pressure on any home team but we showed in
Port Elizabeth, where we have won the previous two years, that we can
handle the pressure,” explained Powell.
Monday, 7 December 2015
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