It’s still a long shot, but Bryan Habana’s Olympic dream is still alive after he was included in a 19-man Springbok Sevens training squad for the Rio Games.
Springbok wing Habana, who has scored a South African record 64 tries in 117 Test matches, will make one last bid for the final 12-man squad once his club commitments are over with Toulon in France.
His club will face Montpellier in the French Top 14 semi-finals on Saturday, with the final next weekend.
And Blitzbok coach Neil Powell made it clear that his absence from a training camp that starts in Stellenbosch on Friday will count against Habana. “Bryan is keen to be part of the group, but understands that his initial absence could count against him when I make my final selection,” the coach said.
“I accept his contractual commitments with Toulon, but also recognise his willingness to contest and contribute to the final squad, whether he makes it or not.”
Habana is one of four 15-man Boks who have made the initial squad, along with Juan de Jongh, Francois Hougaard and Ryan Kankowski. De Jongh and Hougaard are strong candidates to make the 12-man group that will be named in mid-July for the Rio Olympics after impressing in the first half of the World Series, where South Africa ended second behind Fiji.
Veteran Frankie Horne missed out on the 19-man squad after making a last-gasp bid at the Roma Sevens last week for the SA Sevens Academy, who won the tournament for a third year in a row.
But 2015 World Sevens Player of the Year Werner Kok proved that he was 100 percent fit after making his return from a long-term knee injury, and has been given the opportunity to push for a place in the Olympic squad.
There are probably just a handful of players who are guaranteed places in the final 12-man group, which may include De Jongh, Hougaard, Seabelo Senatla, Kwagga Smith, Kyle Brown, Cecil Afrika and Justin Geduld.
That would leave five places left for the other 12 players to compete for, which will make Powell’s task really tough in terms of the final selection. The sevens rugby competition in Rio takes place from August 6-11.
“I feel for those who did not make the squad, but was impressed by their support to the rest of the guys. One of our core values is to support each other, and I am proud to say it was again executed by those who did not make it,” said Powell.
“Looking at our objectives for the season, we obviously wanted to win the series but it was the year of the Olympics and we needed to test some more players, not just from the 15s code, but also players that have been in our squad for a while. We wanted to give everybody a fair chance to stake his claim for a spot in the Olympic squad.
“Looking towards to the Olympics, the next two months are very important to us. We need to train with purpose and make sure we are ready. We have a good mix of sevens and 15s players, and will play in one warm-up tournament early in July before we jet off to the Olympics.”
Blitzbok Olympic Training Squad
Tim Agaba, Chris Dry, Ryan Kankowski, Kwagga Smith, Kyle Brown, Philip Snyman, Dylan Sage, Cheslin Kolbe, Rosko Specman, Branco du Preez, Cecil Afrika, Justin Geduld, Francois Hougaard, Juan de Jongh, Werner Kok, Ruhan Nel, Seabelo Senatla, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Bryan Habana.
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