South Africa will have a strong line-up for the upcoming HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Toulouse, with the return of five key players who missed the Hong Kong and Singapore tournaments.
Their captain Siviwe Soyizwapi, who will make his 50th appearance for the team. James Murphy, Ronald Brown, Dewald Human, Shilton van Wyk and Justin Geduld, who has been sidelined for over a year due to knee and hip injuries return.
Geduld, who is the team’s most capped player and leading points scorer, is a valuable addition to the squad and provides a much-needed boost to the team’s playmaking capabilities.
With the return of Brown, Human, and Geduld, Coach Sandile Ngcobo now has five playmakers at his disposal for each match, something that has been lacking in previous tournaments due to injuries.
This also means that Ngcobo could name his most experienced squad since taking over as coach at the start of the season.
The Blitzboks will be hoping that the return of these key players will help them secure a strong finish in Toulouse.
The Blitzboks (106) are in seventh place on the World Series log and need to overtake Australia (112) and Samoa (111) to finish in the top four and secure automatic Olympic Games qualification.
They will face Fiji, France and USA in a very competitive Pool C of the tournament, with their opening match against the hosts on Friday, 12 May at 14h35 SA time.
They will also play Fiji at 21h03 the same day, with their final pool game in Stade Ernst-Wallon on Saturday, 13 May at 13h49 (SA time).
The South Africa Sevens squad:
Ryan Oosthuizen – 41 tournaments, 197 matches (185 points, 37 tries)
Impi Visser – 30 tournaments, 157 matches (140 points, 28 tries)
James Murphy – 15 tournaments, 69 matches (55 points, 11 tries)
Ronald Brown – 11 tournaments, 53 matches (310 points, 30 tries, 80 conversions)
Dewald Human – 20 tournaments, 87 matches (226 points, 18 tries, 68 conversions)
Siviwe Soyizwapi (captain) – 49 tournaments, 255 matches (745 points, 149 tries)
Mfundo Ndhlovu – 15 tournaments, 71 matches (90 points, 18 tries)
Christie Grobbelaar – 16 tournaments, 82 matches. (125 points, 25 tries)
Shaun Williams – 11 tournaments, 54 matches (125 points, 19 tries, 15 conversions)
Shilton van Wyk – 11 tournaments, 62 matches (120 points, 24 tries)
Justin Geduld – 52 tournaments, 270 matches (1060 points, 115 tries, 241 conversions, 1 penalty goal)
Travis Ismaiel – 3 tournaments, 14 matches (5 points, 1 try)
Ricardo Duarttee – 8 tournaments, 42 matches, (187 points, 14 tries, 57 conversions, 1 penalty goal)
