South African 7s stalwarts Seabelo Senatla, Cecil Afrika and Kyle Brown will miss the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco next month after injury ruled the three out.
It’s a huge blow for coach Neil Powell and the squad, who were hoping Afrika (hamstring) and Senatla (groin), might recover in time. Brown, who had a severe knee injury, was never in with a chance of making it.
Another experienced campaigner, Chris Dry, will also miss the World Cup because of a knee injury.
Senatla is the Blitzboks all time leading try‑scorer with 224 tries in his 203‑match in the World Sevens Series. Afrika is their all‑time leading points‑scorer on the annual circuit, having scored 1,430 points in 318 matches.
Powell will name a 12‑man squad and two reserve players in the week before the team departs to San Francisco on 14th July.
Captain Philip Snyman represented South Africa in the 2009 World Cup in Dubai and again in 2013, in Moscow. On both occasions, South Africa were eliminated in the Cup quarterfinals.
Meanwhile the Fiji Airways Men’s National 7s squad continue to prepare at the Uprising Beach Resort before leaving our shores on Saturday.
Fiji will play either Uruguay or Japan in their first pool match of the World Cup on 21st July.
Blitzboks World Cup Sevens training squad:
Philip Snyman, Heino Bezuidenhout, Dylan Sage, Zain Davids, Ryan Oosthuizen, James Murphy, Werner Kok, Dewald Human, Rosko Specman, Branco du Preez, Justin Geduld, Selvyn Davids, Ruhan Nel, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Mfundo Ndhlovu
[Source:www.timeslive.co.za]
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