South Africa

Three new caps for BlitzBokke

Monday, January 25 Springbok Sevens coach, Paul Treu, has included three uncapped players in his SA squad for the next two tournaments of the IRB Sevens World Series in New Zealand and the United States.

There is also a welcome return to national duty for playmaker Renfred Dazel, who missed the Dubai and George tournaments with a knee injury.

The three newcomers are the Vodacom Free State U21 duo of Philip van der Walt and Hoffman Maritz as well as Steven Hunt (Vodacom Western Province U21).

The young trio replace Shaun Venter, Deon Helberg and MJ Mentz. Regular captain Paul Delport is recovering from an ankle injury while veteran Neil Powell is still nursing a sore shoulder. The team will be now be led by Mzwandile Stick.

Ryno Benjamin is also back in the squad after he sat out the SA Sevens in George because of disciplinary reasons.

Treu included Dazel after the player proved his fitness at the recent training camp in Stellenbosch and he will add much needed experience to the backs.

Wellington welcomes the World Series on 5-6 February and Las Vegas will host the USA Sevens a week later for the first time.

The Springbok Sevens leaves for Wellington on Saturday, 30 January.

The Kiwi’s are currently the pacesetters in the Series after recording impressive back-to-back wins in Dubai and George. They have collected the maximum 48 points on offer and are followed by Fiji (36) and England (28). South Africa, the defending Series champion, is further back in eighth place with 16 points.

South Africa’s group opponents in Wellington are hosts New Zealand, Wales and Niue while in Las Vegas the team will battle against Fiji, the USA and Canada on the first day.

The Springbok Sevens squad is (SARU contracted unless indicated):

Mpho Mbiyozo, Chase Minnaar, Frankie Horne, Cecil Afrika, Kyle Brown, Renfred Dazel, Ryno Benjamin, Mzwandile Stick, Marius Schoeman, Steven Hunt (Vodacom Western Province U21), Hoffman Maritz, Philip van der Walt (both Vodacom Free State U21).

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