Schoolboys on Treu's radar
Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:08
SA Under -18 wing Craig Barry in action at the Craven Week
Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu invited four of the most promising Western Cape schoolboy stars to his team's fitness and conditioning tests at the Sports Science Institute in Newlands on Tuesday.
The four youngsters joined seven other contenders identified by Treu and the national selectors for tests at the Institute.
The invited schoolboy stars who rubbed shoulders with the Springbok Sevens players were JP du Plessis (Paul Roos, Western Province Under-18, SA Schools), Craig Barry (Paul Roos, WP & SA Under-18), Heinrich Marcus (Excelsior HS, WP & SA Under-18) and Zingisa Ndiki (Wynberg Boys HS, WP Under-18).
Treu will have to rebuild his International Rugby Board Sevens World Series-winning team, because he will no longer be able to call on the services of regulars like Robert Ebersohn, Mpho Mbiyozo, Lionel Mapoe, Philip Snyman, Vuyo Zangqa and Howard Noble.
A serious facial injury has ended Zangqa's international career prematurely, while the rest have all committed to playing provincial or Super Rugby.
Nine contracted SA Sevens players reported for duty. They were Neil Powell, Mzwandile Stick, Renfred Dazel, Kyle Brown, Paul Delport, Chase Minnaar, Ryno Benjamin, Frankie Horne and Marius Schoeman.
Dazel, one of the stalwarts of last season's successful campaign, will start training in four weeks' time only because of a minor knee operation.
Afterwards, the promising SA Under-18 fullback Barry described his day long stay with the team as an amazing experience.
"I was so excited because they are my heroes. We were made to feel at home very quickly and it was a memorable occasion," said a beaming Barry.
Barry scored the winning try in the final match of the Craven Week against Free State in East London to crown WP as the unofficial champions.
A more familiar face amongst the contenders was Reg Muller, the Falcons speedster who has scored six tries to date in the First Division.
After the tests, Treu declared himself satisfied with the day's work.
"This is obviously the start of a long process and we intend to test more players in other areas," said the Bok Sevens coach.
"We have some amazing young talent coming through at schoolboy level and I am pleased with what I've seen."
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