Powell happy to ‘broaden Blitzboks’ base’ in Vancouver

SPRINGBOK Sevens coach Neil Powell has called on his smarting charges to unite and hit back in style when the Vancouver tournament kicks off later today.

The BlitzBoks are a much-weakened side following the picking up of injuries by several first choice players, while they’re coming off a fourth place finish at the Las Vegas tournament last weekend. Despite this the South Africans are still 10 points clear as the front-runners in the series, with New Zealand second.

Powell’s men face Russia, Scotland and Canada in Pool D play before the knockout rounds tomorrow.

“The junior players are a week more experienced than in Vegas so they have another opportunity to improve and contribute,” said Powell ahead of the tournament in Canada. More than half of the squad members have a combined total of tournament caps that is less than the number of Kyle Brown (63), the most experienced player in the squad.

“The reality is that if I had the likes of Rosko Specman and Werner Kok available I would have played them. But they are not here and I need to play the youngsters, and that is pleasing, too.

“They need to get gametime and develop and this weekend is not only an opportunity for them, but for our whole system as well. We need to broaden our base and this tournament provides us with that chance.”

Powell has asked his players to put in a big effort this weekend. “We always measure our own effort first, because if that is enough, positive results will follow. We have prepared well enough so the only thing left for us to do is deliver a performance that we can be proud of.”

The rookies in the SA squad are Ryan Oosthuizen (five tournaments), Zain Davids (eight), Muller du Plessis (one), Selvyn Davids (two), Stedman Gans (seven), Marco Labuschagne (one). The rest of the squad are Cecil Afrika (58), Siviwe Soyizwapi (14), Philip Snyman (51), Ruhan Nel (25), Branco du Preez (59) and Brown (63).