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No cotton wool treatment for BlitzBoks

It was learnt on Thursday that World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year Werner Kok will undergo surgery on his knee and will be out of action for at least six months, while playmaker Cecil Afrika has been side-lined for two weeks with a hamstring injury.

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Despite the possibility of losing more key players to fatigue and injuries ahead of the more important play-off games this weekend, Powell said he will field his strongest available team in the pool stages.

"The problem with protecting players is that you still need to reach the quarterfinals so you can't afford to rest players," said Powell.

"We will do what is necessary – even if it means a player like Seabelo [Senatla] plays three to four games. It is unfortunate, but that is what we must do."

Due to the injuries, Powell has brought in Dylan Sage and Rosko Specman into the squad and he also made some positional changes ahead of this weekend's tournament. 

No cotton wool treatment for BlitzBoks"We had Rayno Benjamin in the forwards for Dubai and we are moving him to the centre with Juan de Jongh. We will have more experience in our backline with Benjamin as he played in previous tournaments. 

"Dylan [Sage] will come in the forwards in his place."

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The absence of Kok and Afrika is a big blow to South Africans. However, Powell rather wants to look at the positives.

"The positive thing about the injuries is that we could give a lot of the guys game time and it actually worked out nicely.

"There are new players and we want to get them on the same level as the experienced guys. It's an opportunity to get them some much need game time," added Powell.

Powell also believes that the Olympics is very much in the back of the minds of some of the teams and he says it is impacting on their performances as well.

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"Everybody is pushing to get better ahead of the Olympics and they are willing to try things out. Everybody is pushing for a medal, everybody wants that gold.

"It's like a good and a bad thing in that there is almost no pressure to win. They got a little bit more freedom to try things out. It almost makes the team's more dangerous when they do that," said Powell.

Warren Fortune

@FortuneWarren

@rugby365com

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