Geduld to replace injured Afrika
Justin Geduld has been called up to replace injured playmaker Cecil Afrika for the final leg of the Sevens World Series 2014/15 in London.
Geduld, who just missed out on the original selection for the trip to Glasgow and London due to injury, has recovered and will take over from Afrika – who picked up an injury on the first day of the Scotland leg, held at Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow, at the weekend.
The BlitzBoks also had Philip Snyman injured during their captain's run in Glasgow on Friday, with Carel du Preez, who replaced him on short notice, staying on for the final event of the nine-tournament showpiece.
The BlitzBoks are currently in second place on the overall series log, five points adrift of Fiji, and will need to win the London Sevens and hope the island side finish outside the top three if they want to claim the overall title.
The South Africans will contest pool D, facing France, Portugal and the USA.
Springbok Sevens coach Neil Powell confirmed that Geduld passed a stringent fitness test in South Africa before departure.
"Scans revealed that Cecil will not be ready for this weekend, but we are very lucky to have Justin available again," said Powell.
"Cecil is a world-class player and we all know that, but so is Justin. He is also a playmaker just like Cecil and we could not have asked for a better replacement.
"Justin has proved himself in the past and did not make the Dream Team at the end of last year's series for nothing."
Powell said his side will fight till the last second of the 2014/15 season in order to try and win the overall series.
"We are disappointed as we did not play our best rugby in Scotland," Powell said.
"But we must get back up and play with the right mindset in every game.
"Sevens is a funny sport and lots of things can still happen.
"We need to make sure every effort is our best one this weekend, so that we cannot blame ourselves for a lack of effort at the end of it," he added.
