Mentz's men looking to 'get physical'
The South African Academy team, coached and managed by Marius Schoeman, will be out to use their greater physical presence to win some silverware at the inaugural Zimbabwean Sevens in Harare on Saturday and Sunday.
Facing the SA Academy team will be other quality outfits like Botswana, Zambian and the hosts Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabweans are keen to use the tournament as a build-up to the next leg of the IRB Sevens World Series, in Hong Kong later this month.
However, the pre-tournament favourites appear to be the South Africans – who are physically more intimidating and heavier that most of their rivals.
Academy skipper MJ Mentz made it clear his team would use any advantage they could get, including playing in typical South African fashion – which involves a very physical and aggressive brand of rugby.
“The guys have been working hard,” Mentz said, adding: “Some were still at school last year and they have been on a two-month strengthening program.
“I definitely think it’s not only about the physical aspect. We have a system in place and we want to stick to our structures.
“The physical aspect of the game has always been a part of South Africa’s game,” said Mentz.
For most of the participants, this will be a first meeting with each other and there is limited knowledge of other teams’ strengths and weakness.
“We don’t know exactly what the other teams are like, but definitely Zimbabwe are up there,” said Mentz.
The one team that has had some international exposure, on television, and thus provide the opposition with a chance to study them are Zimbabwe’s Cheetahs.
Hugo Botha, Botswana’s captain, said they do have some knowledge of the hosts, but none whatsoever on the South Africans.
He identified Zimbabwe’s Wes Manje as one of the players to look for at during the tournament.
“We’ve been really fortunate to play in quite a few African tournaments, where most of these teams – like the Zimbabwean – participated. However, we do not know much about the South Africans.
“It’s difficult to say which players stand out really, because it’s a team sport.
However, I think [Wes] Mbanje stands out and the Zimbabweans are a very well trained side. They play well as a team and have played together for a while and I think the longer you play together the better you are.”
However, the well-developed rugby structures in South Africa give the Academy team an advantage, according to their captain.
“We’ve contracted eight guys who were in school last year and they started in January, training in the academy in Stellenbosch,” Mentz said.
“Seven of those guys are here and the other one is injured unfortunately. We are getting the guys from a young age through the system,” Mentz added.
By Jeffrey Danai Murimbechi in Harare
