Juries to start from bench
Thu, 20 May 2010 12:02
Fabian Juries, South Africa's most experienced Sevens player of all time, will make his eagerly awaited return to international action from the bench against France at Twickenham on Saturday in the Springboks' opening pool match of the London leg of the IRB Sevens World Series.
Juries 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 World Series with 173 tries, behind Santiago Gomez Cora (Argentina, 227) and Ben Gollings (England, 198).
Currently on the books of Western Province, Juries returned to the Springbok Sevens team for the season-ending tournaments in London and Murrayfield.
He is joined by two more stalwarts Mzwandile Stick and Neil Powell, and the presence of the trio has now added a much more familiar look to coach Paul Treu's championship-winning team from last season.
Treu said Juries has adjusted well since joining the squad a few weeks ago but he will not start in the opening match against France.
"We will start playing him off the bench and hopefully if he can find his feet quickly we can move him into the starting line-up. I can still see glimpses of his brilliance and hopefully he can use his feet, his experience and just let the ball do the work."
The coach added that his team was determined to improve on its below par performance so far this season.
"The guys know they need to play to their full potential. Although we have blooded many youngsters during the season, we still managed to create a lot of opportunities against the strongest teams. However, compared to last season, we battled to strike those vital scoring blows when the opportunities prevented themselves.
"I hope that with Fabba, Stick and Neil back, the team will show more composure and take their chances when necessary," said Treu.
He also cautioned that competition for the season finale will be fierce because all the top teams have loaded their squads in the hope of ending the season on a high note.
South Africa: 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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