Blitzboks veterans to return to Super Rugby franchises in 2020

The pool of quality players available for the Blitzboks in their 2019/20 World Rugby Sevens has increased, but coach Neil Powell believes that everyone within his radar will get a fair shot.

The likes of Werner Kok will not be part of the team that will do duty in the opening leg of the series in Dubai. This is after a few stalwarts made themselves available for selection before the local 15-man rugby season kicks off in early 2020.

Veterans return for Blitzboks

Seabelo Senatla, Rosko Specman, Ruhan Nel and Dylan Sage have all been named in Powell’s first competitive squad of the season, but will only be fully available for the Dubai and Cape Town legs of the season.

“Everyone in the squad will get the opportunity in the series, and what they do with that will be crucial for them,” Powell said.

“These four players will move on to 15 after the two legs, but that was not why they were included. They showed the desire and form to be here and that made selecting them easy.”

Neil Powell

South Africa had a disappointing title defence after claiming the crown in the 2017/18 season. They finished fourth in the most recent series.

One of the returnees to the squad, Senatla said the team is looking forward to delivering the goods this time around.

“We are pretty much focused on the here and the now, and the preparations in the last couple of weeks have been on the immediate results,” Senatla said.

“Our pool in Dubai is a tricky one and the three days of the tournament will each pose a different challenge, so our ability to switch on and switch off will be as important as going out there and doing our thing on the field.”

Seabelo Senatla

Senatla will turn out for the Stormers in Super Rugby, along with teammate Ruhan Nel.

Also set to be involved in the southern hemisphere’s premier franchise is Specman, who plays for the Bulls, alongside Sage.

Blitzboks Dubai sevens squad 

Chris Dry, Ryan Oosthuizen, Dylan Sage, Zain Davids, JC Pretorius, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Selvyn Davids, Rosko Specman, Justin Geduld, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Seabelo Senatla, Ruhan Nel, Christi Grobbelaar.