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Blitzboks face tough test at Dubai 7s II

rugby02 December 2021 15:34| © SuperSport
By:Brenden Nel
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Down to 13 players in Dubai, the Blitzboks will be massively tested this weekend to continue their magnificent run of form at the Dubai Sevens II, which will take place in front of crowds.

After completely dominating the first tournament to win last weekend and take the lead atop of the HSBC World Sevens Series, the loss of Muller du Plessis and Ryan Oosthuizen to injury has not been good for the team.

The lack of options, or replacements because of travel restrictions has made their situation even more difficult, and they will face a massive mental and physical test this weekend.

The Blitzboks will face the same three teams- Japan, Ireland and Great Britain as they did last weekend when they went through unbeaten.

But the challenge with less players and less options this week will be a big test for coach Neil Powell.

“You have to get that balance right by doing enough on the pitch and making sure you give the players enough time to recover – from a fitness and mental perspective – from last week’s tournament,” said Powell.

“For me it’s always difficult to play the same opposition twice, because I believe they learn more from you in their defeat,” he explained.

Oosthuizen hasn’t totally been ruled out but the team want to give him as much time as possible to prove his fitness.

“Because of the closure of international travel border, we cannot fly in any replacements,” he said.

“So, from that perspective we will have to box clever. I just hope we can stay injury free so that we’re able to spread the workload evenly over the two days.”

The Blitzboks open their Pool A fixtures on Friday morning against Japan (09h12), followed by matches against Ireland (13h04) and Great Britain (18h33).

The Springbok Sevens squad for the second HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series tournament in Dubai:

1 Christie Grobbelaar – 4 tournaments, 17 matches, 35 points (7 tries)
2 Ryan Oosthuizen – 24 tournaments, 121 matches, 125 points (25 tries)
3 Impi Visser – 14 tournaments, 68 matches, 70 points (14 tries)
4 Zain Davids – 25 tournaments, 126 matches, 100 points (20 tries)
5 Tiaan Pretorius – 1 tournament, 3 matches, 5 points (1 try)
6 JC Pretorius – 13 tournaments, 71 matches, 155 points (31 tries)
7 Branco du Preez – 76 tournaments, 383 matches, 1362 points (98 tries, 433 conversions, 1 penalty goal, 1 drop goal)
8 Selvyn Davids – 22 tournaments, 114 matches, 456 points (51 tries, 99 conversions, 1 penalty goal)
9 Shaun Williams – 3 tournaments, 14 matches, 31 points (5 tries, 3 conversions)
10 Ronald Brown – 3 tournaments, 18 matches, 154 points (14 tries, 42 conversions)
11 Siviwe Soyizwapi – captain, 33 tournaments, 175 matches, 555 points (111 tries)
13 Shilton van Wyk – 1 tournament, 6 matches, 5 points (1 try)

The Blitzboks’ matches on Friday (SA times):

9:12am Springboks Sevens vs Japan
1:04pm: Springboks Sevens vs Ireland
6:33pm: Springboks Sevens vs Great Britain

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