South African Rugby Union announces their Sevens 23-man training squad – Rugby News
The governing body of Rugby Union in South Africa, South African Rugby Union (SARU), has announced their Sevens 23-man training squad for the upcoming International Rugby Board’s (IRB) HSBC
Sevens World Series. SARU listed the squad in a statement released on their official website on Monday, October 31.
The squad named four new-comers in their roster. The team consists of 10 forwards and 13 backs player. These new players include Reuben Johannes, Cornal Hendricks, Stephan Dippenaar and Dirk
Dippenaar.
Stephan Dippenaar played at the centre position for the Vodacom Bulls. However, last week he signed a two-year deal with Springbok Sevens after parting ways with the Bulls. Reuben Johannes
plays at the hooker position for Western Province, Cornal Hendricks plays for Boland Cavaliers, while Dirk Dippenaar plays at winger position for Tukkies.
Besides new players, SARU has named five injured players in the 23-man training squad. Officials have expressed their confidence that these players will recover on time for the tournament.
Amongst the five injured players, include IRB Sevens Player of the Year, Cecil Afrika.
In addition to Afrika, other injured players named in the squad include Branco du Preez, Craig Barry, Tshotsho Mbovane and Pieter Engelbrecht. Du Preez is suffering from ankle injury, Craig
Barry is suffering from pelvis injury, Tshotsho Mbovane is suffering from knee injury and Pieter Engelbrecht is suffering from ankle injury.
Springbok Sevens coach, Paul Treu, has expressed his delight on his full strength squad. He said, “It was so great to see all of them together again because quite a few of them were involved
in the Absa Currie Cup. You could immediately sense the excitement and energy and we will now work flat out to ensure we are in good condition and well prepared when we depart to Australia on November 18.”
Springbok Sevens 23-man squad consists of,
Forwards: Chase Minnaar, Kyle Brown, Frankie Horne, Chris Dry, Neil Powell, Boom Prinsloo, Reuben Johannes (Western Province), Cornal Hendricks (Boland Cavaliers), Dirk Dippenaar (Tukkies),
Pieter Engelbrecht.
Backs: Paul Delport, Cecil Afrika, Branco du Preez, Steven Hunt, Renfred Dazel, Bernado Botha, Mark Richards, Craig Barry, Tshotsho Mbovane, William Small-Smith, Stephan Dippenaar, MJ Mentz,
Robert Ebersohn (Free State Cheetahs).
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