Treu calls in Aussie help
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:21
Former Reds skills coach and Australian touch rugby expert Jason Stanton has been invited by Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu to join the team in Wellington to assist in their preparations for the IRB Sevens tournament starting in the New Zealand capital on Friday.
Stanton helped Australia to three consecutive Touch Rugby world titles, is a former skills coach of the Reds, and last year guided the Australian Women's team to victory in the inaugural IRB Sevens World Cup in Dubai.
"Jason has an amazing track record as a skills coach and is obviously highly respected in both Rugby and Touch Rugby circles. He has a refreshingly different approach to skills coaching and I am delighted that has joined us for the week in Wellington," said Treu.
Treu guided the Springbok Sevens team to IRB Series honours last season, but they have found the going extremely tough during the opening part of the new campaign.
The team has struggled after injuries to key players and the loss of several regulars to provincial and Super 14 duty, and South Africa is currently in eighth place on the log with 16 points. New Zealand leads the title chase with the maximum 48 points after tournament victories in Dubai and George in December.
Treu has arranged a warm-up match against Tonga on Wednesday and is very keen to give all four newcomers a run against the physical Pacific Islanders.
"We play Niue in our first match on Friday and Tonga would therefore be the ideal team to prepare against as they play a very similar style of rugby. Chase Minnaar and Marius Schoeman might not play because both have a bit of an upset stomach problem, but they should be okay for the captain's run on Thursday," explained Treu.
The Springboks second match on Friday is against Sevens World Cup winners Wales and they end the first day with a tough assignment against New Zealand, the tournament favourites.
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