It’s a small issue, says Blitzboks assistant coach

Tokyo: South Africa’s men’s assistant rugby sevens coach Renfred Dazel has claimed the upheaval caused to their Olympic preparations after their arrival in Tokyo is just a “small distraction”.

The Blitzboks, one of the favourites for the Tokyo 2020 gold medal here, have been impacted by two separate COVID-19 incidents.

Every member of the squad was forced into self-isolation when they were deemed to be close contacts of a Russian masseuse who tested positive for coronavirus on the same flight from Doha.

Head coach Neil Powell was then admitted to an isolation facility after testing positive for COVID-19.

Seventeen out of the 18 squad members have now been released from isolation.

However, they are still monitored by Japanese health authorities.

Dazel has taken over on-field coaching responsibilities from Powell, who will continue to be involved remotely.

“It is fair to say there has been some off-field dramas,” said Dazel.

“We came to Japan well prepared with the hard work done at home, so this is just a small distraction in that bigger picture.

“We had good camps in Sandton and Robertson and did very good work there, we came to Japan a week earlier mainly to acclimatise and get used to the humidity, and that has not changed.”

Dazel said the players had coped well with the change in situation.

“We are all still in good spirits and understand that we cannot change those things we cannot control.

“We did manage to add some fun elements into the adjusted training schedule and that certainly helped.”