Johannesburg – South Africa’s hopes of success on the rugby field again rest with Neil Powell’s Sevens team.
After a disappointing World Cup in England, where the 15-man outfit came unstuck in the semi-finals – and is likely to result in coach Heyneke Meyer losing his job – it would seem this country’s best chances of dominating a rugby discipline rest with the Blitz Boks, who kick off the 2015-16 season in Dubai this weekend.
Of course, it will all culminate in Powell’s men going to the Olympics in Rio next year, where their chances of picking up a medal will be good.
Let’s not forget that the Blitzbokke are the Commonwealth Games champions, having grabbed gold last year, so they – and the rest of the rugby-mad public in South Africa – will be confident of going a step further by also claiming Olympic gold.
With that challenge now just months away, the forthcoming world series has become slightly more important than previous seasons.
The Olympics take place from August 5, but before then Powell and Co will be hoping to make an impression and get all their “ducks in a row” in the 10-stop series, starting in Dubai this weekend and ending in London on May 22.
South Africa won two tournaments last year – in Dubai and their home event, in Port Elizabeth – and finished the series as runners-up to Fiji.
Powell will be keen to go one better this time and considering he will call on several XVs Springboks in the coming months there’s no reason to think he and his charges don’t have an outstanding chance of taking over as the world’s leading team.
For the season opener, starting on Friday in the United Arab Emirates, and the home tournament in Cape Town next weekend, Powell has included dangerous Bok backs Juan de Jongh and Francois Hougaard, both of whom will bring additional attacking prowess to an already electrifying Sevens side.
Add these two men to the likes of Cheslin Kolbe and Seabelo Senatla and the Blitzbokke might just have the most dangerous team in the series.
While this is Hougaard’s first foray into Sevens – coming after missing out on Springbok selection for the World Cup – De Jongh returns to the game where he first made his mark, playing for the SA Sevens team in a one-off match in Wellington in 2008.
All the usual suspects are back for more, including captain Kyle Brown, World Sevens Player of the Year Werner Kok, Rayno Benjamin, Justin Geduld, Cecil Afrika, Kwagga Smith and Chris Dry.
The one player to miss out is veteran forward Frankie Horne, who played an astonishing 68 consecutive tournaments.
Players who weren’t considered include XVs Boks Warren Whiteley and Oupa Mohoje as well as Branco du Preez, all of whom are nursing injuries, but may come into contention next year when the third leg of the series is played in New Zealand from the end of January.
The Blitzbokke have spent the last few weeks preparing for the world series at a camp in Stellenbosch, with Powell saying it had been a hugely beneficial exercise.
“I am confident the squad we are taking to Dubai and Cape Town will give a good account of themselves.
“This is the most important Sevens season ever, with the bigger world series set to be even tougher than last season.
“I think teams will want to position themselves for the 2016 Olympic Games, meaning there will be little room for error,” he said.
South Africa have been grouped in Pool B with Scotland, Samoa and Russia for the Dubai tournament.
SQUAD: Chris Dry, Philip Snyman, Francois Hougaard, Werner Kok, Kwagga Smith, Kyle Brown, Cheslin Kolbe, Rayno Benjamin, Justin Geduld, Cecil Afrika, Seabelo Senatla, Juan de Jongh