Zain Davids, Shilton van Wyk bolster Blitzboks in last-ditch bid for Paris Olympics
Zain Davids, Shilton van Wyk bolster Blitzboks in last-ditch bid for Paris Olympics
Twelve Blitzboks will have one last shot at redeeming the Springbok Sevens side this season and book the final spot at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this coming weekend in Monaco.
South Africa find themselves in a spot of bother after a disappointing SVNS Series, having missed out on silverware in all the tournaments except the opener in Dubai.
There won’t be any real medals up for grabs at the World Rugby Sevens Repechage, but that one place to be among the sevens teams who will be partaking in the Olympics in Paris at the end of July.
The Blitzboks failed to qualify automatically via the series, like they did in the past, as one of the four best teams.
After that, they even faltered in the Africa qualifier, losing to Kenya.
Now, they will venture to Monaco next weekend and have to beat the likes of Tonga (Friday, 5.32pm), Mexico (Saturday, 2.32pm) and Chile (Saturday, 7.32pm), and then tougher core series teams like Great Britain, Spain or Canada on Sunday to win the Repechage.
They will want to start with convincing wins in their pool matches to give themselves the best possible draw to win the knockouts on the final day of play.
Hard-running forward Zain Davids and speedster Shilton van Wyk return to the squad that should be too strong for all their pool opponents.
Philip Snyman, the stand-in Blitzboks head coach, said they won’t get ahead of themselves and already think about Paris.
“The goal is straightforward, and that is to win in Monaco and gain entry to the Paris Olympics,” Snyman said this week.
“The whole squad is in agreement that we were our own worst enemies during the SVNS series, and only we can fix that.
“We need to lay a foundation against Mexico to follow it up on day two, and get the best possible draw for the play-offs on day three.
“Both Zain and Shilton played in all the tournaments, and we felt it would be better for them to miss the Madrid one to freshen up for Monaco. They will be needed in what is a very important tournament.”
Blitzboks Squad
Christie Grobbelaar, Ryan Oosthuizen, Impi Visser, Zain Davids, Quewin Nortjé, Tiaan Pretorius, Shaun Williams, Selvyn Davids (captain), Tristan Leyds, Rosko Specman, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Shilton van Wyk.