The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) has unveiled South Africa Rugby Sevens Olympics Squad to the 2016 Rio Olympics full of experience and a timely return of one of the best sevens players in the world in Werner Kok.
Notable Ommisions
Neill Powell has opted for his seasoned regulars,making some big calls to select the final 12 players, with the return of Kok, there is no room for Stephan Dippenaar, Ryno Benjamin, Branco Du Preez and the ‘New Kid On The Block’ Ruhan Nel who had an outstanding debut in the HSBC World Sevens Series.
Springbok winger Bryan Habana was gracious even though he didn’t make the cut to Rio. He appeared in the Las Vegas and Vancouver leg to push for a spot but that wasn’t enough.
My appreciation and gratitude for getting the opportunity to have been a part of the blitzboks… https://t.co/1NZZKZU8Bo
— Bryan Habana (@BryanHabana) July 14, 2016
The Blitzboks are in Pool B with France, Australia and Spain at the Deodoro Stadium from the 9-11 of August. Two games each day, which is plenty time to recover and play your best rugby.
Kyle Brown leads a side with 279 HSBC World Sevens Series between them, a rookie in Tim Agaba, feisty Rosko Specman,’twinkle toed’ Chelsin Kolbe and the fast finisher Seabelo Senatla who scored 66 tries in the series.
7 in 60: Catch him if you can, it’s the @Blitzboks bullet train @seabelo_senatla and he is off to @Rio2016_en!https://t.co/XN30W3s8oK
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) July 14, 2016
Neill Powell’s comments
”I could have picked three different teams and all would have been been very competitive, but unfortunately only 12 can go. We have named Francois Houggard and Chris Dry as back-up players that will travel to Rio as well, but they will be staying outside the official village” – Neill Powell on worldrugby.org
”I want to thank all 23 players that contributed this year and the final 19 who really work hard towards a a common goal. That said, we are not done yet and will have to work hard in the remaining 20 days or so to fine tune our play.”
”We are not thinking medals, but rather how to execute on our first match on day one of the tournament, we will focus on what we do well and that will hopefully bring the desired results.”
The South Africans have a star-studded side with the arsenal to fire from all sides. In the forwards with Philip Snyman, Kyle Brwon, Agaba, Dylan Sage and Kwagga Smith to lay the foundation to arguably one of the fastest backlines in the competition with utility players who can slot in any position depending on the game plan and opposition.
Social media comment
Congratulations to Kyle Brown and our Sevens boys who will be going to Rio. Full team here: https://t.co/OPFXcXFh9D pic.twitter.com/XrvGwAKRfw
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) July 14, 2016
They are thee defending Commonwealth Games champs, they know what is at stake, can they bring Gold back to the ‘Rainbow Nation’?? All to play for as the mountain is much steeper than the one in Edinburgh.
Blitzboks Squad:
Kyle Brown, Werner Kok, Kwagga Smith, Tim Agaba, Cecil Africa, Chelsin Kolbe, Juan De Jongh, Rosko Specman, Seabelo Senatla, Justin Geduld, Dylan Sage, Philip Snyman.
Reserves: Chris Dry and Francois Houggard
Follow All the build-up to Rio here on Last Word On Sports.
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