Another injury blow for BlitzBoks
Dylan Sage, the former Western Province Under-21 wing who made his Springbok Sevens debut last December in Cape Town, has been called up to replace Benjamin and will arrive in Wellington, New Zealand late on Friday.
Apart from Benjamin, stalwarts Werner Kok and Frankie Horne are long term injury casualties, while regular skipper Kyle Brown and playmaker Cecil Afrika are both nursing some niggles. This has prompted Springbok Sevens coach, Neil Powell, to include Carel du Preez and the uncapped Sandile Ngcobo.
Much of the hype in the build-up to this week's tournament in Wellington has focussed on the blockbuster clash between South Africa and tournament hosts New Zealand, which is the feature match on the opening day of the two-day event.
Scotland and Russia are the two other Pool A-opponents, and the South African camp is determined not to get carried away by their success in Cape Town last December or their mouth-watering clash against the hosts.
The Kiwis have bolstered their squad with the inclusion of two-time World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams as well as several other provincial stars. However, new BlitzBok star Francois Hougaard said he and his teammates have their full attention tuned to their opening match against the tricky Scots.
"Although the excitement about our pool match against New Zealand is something nice for the fans, we will really take it one game at a time," said Hougaard.
"That means we will focus on doing our best against Scotland, and then thereafter prepare to take on Russia.
"It was great to win in front of our home fans in Cape Town, but we all realise that you start every tournament from scratch. We don’t focus on individuals, but rather on what we can achieve as a team. Our goals and our team culture are very important to us."
Springbok Sevens squad: Chris Dry, Philip Snyman (captain), Carel du Preez, Kwagga Smith, Sandile Ngcobo, Francois Hougaard, Cheslin Kolbe, Dylan Sage, Justin Geduld, Rosko Specman, Seabelo Senatla, Juan de Jongh.
The Springbok Sevens' match schedule (CAT time):
02.24: v Scotland
05.44: v Russia
09.30: v New Zealand
