Cape Town - After the Springboks Sevens team fell to England in the final of the Cape Town Sevens event, coach Neil Powell said the next leg of the World Sevens Series is all about giving youngsters a chance - and he has backed that up in a big way by securing one hell of a youngster in Zain Davids.
Davids, a Junior Springbok star, is one of two new players in the Blitzbok squad, with Siviwe Soyizwapi the other for the Wellington and
Sydney legs. Their inclusion comes after injuries to Kyle Brown and Cecil Afrika, who suffered knee
injuries during the Cape Town tournament and in training this week.
The lethal runner, Davids, comes in for former Blitzbok skipper Brown, while Soyizwapi takes the place of Afrika, the Springboks Sevens side’s all-time leading points scorer. And Davids should fit in perfectly.
At the World Junior Championships in England last year, Davids, an openside flanker and No 8, was one of the standout players with potent attacking runs, smashing tackles and massive tussles for the ball.
So the 19-year-old, who got his first taste of Sevens action during the SA Academy side in Dubai where they won an invitational tournament, can add a lot to the promising SA Sevens set-up.
After-all he was there, as we saw last year, whenever a brutal attack had to be launched by his team, whether it was the Western Province Under-19 side or the Baby Boks .
“We have lost over 100-tournaments worth of experience with Kyle and Cecil out of action,” Powell said.
“That said, we always knew we needed to bring new players into the system, and Zain was earmarked as one of them. He has shown a good appetite for Sevens and will now be tested at the highest level.
“Shakes (Soyizwapi) played for us last year and will be keen to establish himself in the side, especially as Seabelo Senatla will be moving to 15s. He did very well in the warm-up tournament in Namibia late last year, and I am pleased to have him in the playing squad.”
Meanwhile, World Sevens Player of the Year Senatla will make a welcome return after being declared fit for his final two tournaments for the Blitzboks before joining the Stormers for their Super Rugby campaign.
The Blitzboks have been drawn in Pool B for the Wellington event, where they will go head-to-head with Japan, Australia and Olympic gold medallists and defending Series Champions Fiji on day one.
Blitzbok Squad:
Chris Dry, Philip Snyman (captain), Dylan Sage, Kwagga Smith, Werner Kok, Zain Davids, Branco du Preez, Rosko Specman, Justin Geduld, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Ruhan Nel, Seabelo Senatla.
Reserve: Sandile Ngcobo.