Big stars in Sevens Premier League?
Some of rugby’s biggest stars such as Quade Cooper and Sonny Bill Williams have been signed up for the new Sevens Premier League tournament to be held in George in December.
Cooper and Williams headline the list of international stars, that also includes Welsh legend Shane Williams, while some of South Africa’s best even sevens players Brent Russell, Fabian Juries and Stefan Basson have also confirmed their participation.
The even will be hosted in George on the 14th and 15th December 2012, with one million rand in prize money up for grabs to attract some quality players.
“This is really a million rand tournament,” tournament promoter Willem Strauss said.
“One team will walk away with a million rand in prize money and if a lucky spectator kicks well, so can he.”
All five current Super franchises have been invited to participate alongside 11 corporate franchises.
Some of the Super Rugby franchises already accepted and are in the hunt to win the prize money. According to the CEO of the Cheetahs franchise Harold Verster the central region will be sending a very strong side to the tournament.
“It is a bit early to name a team, but there is a lot of money up for grabs and the Cheetahs will certainly be keen to walk away victorious,” Verster confirmed.
“It is also a nice opportunity to market our brand outside our own region.”
Springboks Jaco van der Westhuyzen and Stefan Terblanche are amongst those who will take to the field in the colours of Living Ball, who are one of the confirmed corporate teams.
In another interesting development, Strauss confirmed participation of some of the country’s best young players.
“We will offer national sevens coach Paul Treu the opportunity to nominate around 30 players that he might have identified during the year in professional competitions, to be included in the various teams and the tournament. This will create an ideal vehicle for SA Rugby to identify and evaluate players for possible inclusion in future squads and possibly the team for the Olympic Games.”
