South Africa’s rugby sevens coach Neil Powell on Wednesday named an experienced 12-man team that will play in the Oktoberfest7s in Munich, Germany, between September 21 to 22.
Powell acknowledged that he was happy with the team even though he was limited in terms of selection.
“We have guys coming back from injury, we have some experienced campaigners and we have some young guys keen to make their mark and could be stars in the future,” Powell said.
Siviwe Soyizwapi will captain the side which includes Branco du Preez and Chris Dry, who have featured in a combined 140 tournaments for the Blitzboks.
Zain Davids, Mfundo Ndhlovu, James Murphy and Stedman Gans will also feature having suffered injuries during the latter part of the 2018/19 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Powell will use the tournament, which will be played at the Olympic Stadium, to test out a few technical changes and see how they work for the team.
“We are still in a conditioning phase, so we know we will not be as sharp as we can be, but that is not the end of the world. We are building towards the start of the season, so if there are mistakes, it will be a good pointer for us,” Powell added.
South Africa, fly out next Wednesday, is in Pool A with New Zealand, England & Australia. Pool B features hosts Germany, Fiji, USA & France.
South Africa squad: Chris Dry, Ryan Oosthuizen, Impi Visser, Zain Davids, James Murphy, Mfundo Ndhlovu, Branco du Preez, Selvyn Davids, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Dewald Human, Siviwe Soyizwapi (c), Stedman Gans.
