WP star to push for World Cup Sevens spot

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Western Province back Angelo Davids’ quest for a World Cup Sevens spot gets underway this weekend.

Sako Makata and Davids joined the Blitzboks from South Africa in place of the injured Pretorius duo of Tiaan and JC, and for the new arrivals, it is all a matter of contributing as much as possible.

Davids, who was donning the Western Province jersey during the first seven tournaments of the World Rugby Sevens Series, said he was still doing ‘Sevens stuff’ to keep sharp and felt he integrated well already.

“I was hoping to bring the smiles back and I think it worked,” said Davids.

“We had a great session today and I think one of the reasons was because the guys had their smiles back. We had no luck in Toulouse and that compounded the mistakes we were making.

“I am positive it will be fixed this weekend.”

Davids was always set to return to the Sevens code in order to push for a Rugby World Cup Sevens spot, so although it was a bit sooner than expected, he is keen to be back.

“I was actually on my way to church on Sunday when the call came, so that was a good sign for me,” Davids smiled.

Meanwhile, also sitting in the Western Cape Makata revealed he felt helpless while watching the BlitzBoks’ recent World Series in Toulouse.

The situation will be vastly different for him at Twickenham on Saturday as Makata promises to bring heaps of energy to his team in London.

“I was gutted to miss out on the most of Singapore and then Vancouver and obviously Toulouse, but now I have another chance to contribute, and I want to make it count,” said the forward, who was in fine form before injury struck.

“Watching from the outside was agonising as you feel you can do things differently, but it is maybe because you are watching from a different perspective being far away.”