Springboks aiming for strong finish
Mon, 17 May 2010 15:58
The Springbok Sevens team will be aiming for a good finish to a below-par season when they travel to London for the last two IRB Sevens World Series tournaments, at Twickenham and Murrayfield over the next two weekends.
Paul Treu's team have faltered in each of their previous six attempts to reach the Cup semifinals, however, the travelling squad is now much more balanced since the return of veterans Fabian Juries, Mzwandile Stick and Neil Powell.
Twickenham hosts the seventh Series event of the season on May 22 and 23, while the action moves to Murrayfield a week later.
In London, the Springbok Sevens will face Fiji, Canada and France in the pool stages while New Zealand, Italy and Russia are their opponents in Edinburgh where they were crowned World Series champions last year.
Stick missed the previous two tournaments in Hong Kong and Adelaide with a knee injury and the playmaker is eager to help his team to a strong finish.
"We set high standards for ourselves and are not happy with our performances so far this year," he said.
"However, all is not lost because we managed to blood some exciting youngsters who really made an impact, such as Cecil Africa, Branco du Preez, Sampie Mastriet and Steven Hunt. Those players now have a full season of international Sevens behind them and they will be even better next season, which will be of great benefit to the team," said Stick.
With Juries and also Powell back in the fold again, the team will be aiming at their first Cup semifinal - despite facing a difficult group.
"The likes of Samoa, Australia and Kenya have all improved a lot since last year," said Stick.
"Adding to that, the traditional strong teams like Fiji, New Zealand and England will obviously be keen to end on a high, so we can brace ourselves for two tough weekends."
Juries, meanwhile, made the last of his 42 tournament appearances at Murrayfield in 2008, but brings with him a wealth of experience as the third highest try-scorer of all time in the IRB Sevens Series with 173 tries - behind Santiago Gomez Cora (Argentina, 227) and Ben Gollings (England, 198).
South Africa, who last season won their first World Series title, are currently sixth on the overall standings - just two points ahead of the seventh-placed Kenyans.
The South African Sevens squad: Mpho Mbiyozo, Chase Minnaar, Frankie Horne, Cecil Afrika, Neil Powell, Kyle Brown, Fabian Juries, Ryno Benjamin, Chris Dry, Mzwandile Stick, Hoffman Maritz, MJ Mentz.
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