Cape Town - Captain Philip Snyman and Kwagga Smith have been passed fit and will feature for the Blitzboks at the Cape Town Sevens this weekend.
Coach Neil Powell announced an unchanged squad from the one that clinched the Dubai Sevens last week, with Siviwe Soyizwapi remaining on as the injury reserve.
Snyman and Smith sat out of training earlier this week at the Green Point Track, but Powell said on Thursday that all players who had experienced bumps and bruises from Dubai were ready to defend their title at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday and Sunday.
The Springbok Sevens open their Pool A campaign against Russia on Saturday (12.49pm), followed by USA (4.10pm) and Australia (7.56pm).
“We are fortunate to be able to again field an experienced squad,” Powell said. “There were niggles from Dubai, but those were expected as the guys have not played for a couple of months. Luckily for us, we came back from Dubai without any serious injuries and lots of belief in our systems.
“We had to start from scratch again. The players are experienced enough to be able to do that themselves, so I hope the triggers we provided will be successful. We need to be sharp on Saturday, as it is a dangerous pool, with all three teams capable of beating a more favourite team.
“The fact that we play at home will lift the players, no doubt, but we cannot just rock up and expect the crowd to motivate us and win the games for us with their support. We need to deliver and get them in the game.”
Blitzbok Squad for Cape Town Sevens
Chris Dry, Philip Snyman (captain), Dylan Sage, Kwagga Smith, Werner Kok, Kyle Brown, Branco du Preez, Rosko Specman, Justin Geduld, Cecil Afrika, Ruhan Nel, Seabelo Senatla, Siviwe Soyizwapi.
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