Under the stewardship of former head coach Sandile Ngcobo, five Blitzboks are among a group of 13 to represent SA A at the Rugby Africa Sevens Series in Mauritius.
David Brits, James Murphy, Jaiden Barron, Mfundo Ndhlovu and Sebastiaan Jobb will be important contributors to the team, which left Mauritius yesterday, with their experience coming in handy in a squad that offers tournament exposure to half a dozen SA sevens academy players.
Ngcobo will take charge and SA Rugby’s high-performance manager Marius Schoeman will assist and act as team manager.
Schoeman explained their participation in the tournament, which will have SA A face Zambia, Zimbabwe and Algeria in the first round.
“We were asked to step in after one of the original participants withdrew, so had to get ready on short notice. That said, the players have been working with coach Sandile over the past couple of weeks and although they did not prepare for this tournament as such, it will be nice opportunity to be tested by other international sides,” Schoeman said.
Some of the new faces excelled during the Varsity Cup and those performances got them onto our radar, while someone like Joubert Schoeman recently played for the SA Students Sevens at the Students Sevens World Cup.
“This can almost be seen as a restart of our academy that worked so well in the past and that was instrumental in us being successful on the world stage. These players will be tested and moulded and come back better,” Schoeman said.
The first leg of the tournament will be played this weekend and a second tournament will take place next week.
Full Springbok Sevens A squad: Jayden Nell, David Brits, James Murphy, Joubert Schoeman, Jeffwin Wesso, Jaiden Baron, Kyle Cyster, Rowan Malgas, Mpho Kubheka, Mfundo Ndhlovu, Sebastiaan Jobb, Siyabonga Ndlozi and Ntokozo Makhaza.
Pools in Mauritius:
A: Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Mauritius
B: Uganda, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire
C: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Algeria
Source link : https://www.citizen.co.za/network-news/lnn/article/blitzbok-stars-jet-off-to-mauritius/
Author :
Publish date : 2024-06-28 09:30:42
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
