BLITZBOKS READY FOR WELLINGTON SEVENS
All about teamwork, excited Speckman says
THE Blitzboks are getting sharper by the day and cannot wait for the HSBC Wellington Sevens to kick off in New Zealand on Saturday, speedster Rosko Speckman said.
The tournament, the third in the series, will be held at the Westpac Stadium and the host nation will put in a massive effort to take the title on home soil.
Speckman, who was named in the Wellington Dream Team last year, believes the close bond in the team will help individual performances as well.
“We all believe if the team plays well, the individual will also shine, so it has to be a team effort first,” he said.
“We are keen to get going again [after a short break]. We prepared well for this and the guys are getting sharper and sharper as the tournament approaches.”
Springbok Sevens winger Siviwe Soyizwapi will play at this venue for the first time since making his Blitzbok debut last season and says he is pretty excited to contribute to the team.
Soyizwapi travelled with the Springbok Sevens as the reserve player to the opening two legs of the series, in Dubai and Cape Town. He has not yet played and is keen to get onto the field.
Meanwhile, New Zealand coach Scott Waldrom has named four new players for the defence of the Wellington title.
Tasman’s Trael Joass, Andrew Knewstubb and Tone Ng Shiu, along with Otago’s Vilimoni Joroi, are the fresh faces in the squad for the world series event.
They earned their call-ups after strong performances at the national championships in Rotorua.
“We are confident this squad contains the best Sevens rugby players in the country at the moment,” Waldrom said. “This is a team based on form.
“It’s exciting to put Trael, Andrew, Vilimoni and Tone into the All Blacks Sevens environment in Wellington. Our focus when we go into camp is to bring the new guys up to speed with our structures and the team culture.”
He said there was plenty of experience to balance the new talent, headed by DJ Forbes who plays his 82nd world series event.
“We are feeling confident heading into the Wellington tournament. There were big improvements in the team between the Dubai and Cape Town tournaments as the squad got to spend more time together,” he said.
“We will be giving it our all to hold on to the Wellington trophy and make it four wins in a row.”
The Springbok Sevens team, who lost to New Zealand in last year’s final at the Westpac Stadium, will face Japan (1.09am SA time), Australia (4.33am SA time) and Fiji (8.18am SA time) in Pool B on Saturday.