Justin Geduld to hit milestone as Blitzboks chase glory in London

Justin Geduld will play in his 35th World Sevens Series tournament in London this weekend. Photo: Nigel Owen/www.photosport.nz

Justin Geduld will play in his 35th World Sevens Series tournament in London this weekend. Photo: Nigel Owen/www.photosport.nz

Published Jun 1, 2018

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LONDON – It will be a proud weekend for Tygerberg High School in Cape Town – not only will Marvin Orie and Travis Ismaiel join Eben Etzebeth as recently produced Springboks, but another one of their rugby stars, Justin Geduld, will achieve a special Blitzbok milestone at the London Sevens.

Geduld will play in his 35th World Rugby Sevens Series tournament at Twickenham this weekend, and true to Springbok Sevens tradition, was handed a special cap to celebrate this achievement.

The 35-tournament milestone means a lot to the players and Geduld was humbled by this achievement.

“I never expected to join such a distinguished group of players who also achieved this. It is a humbling experience,” said Geduld, who has scored 787 points in 124 matches for the Blitzboks.

“In the beginning, my dream was just to make the team, so to still be here is massive for me. I will certainly enjoy this experience. I just want to express myself and contribute to the team effort.”

The playmaker is one of five players back into the World Series fray and last played in Hamilton, where he suffered a broken jaw and missed the tournaments in Las Vegas, Vancouver, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Geduld made his return at the Commonwealth Games in April, but is chomping at the bit to help the Blitzboks make it to the line and successfully defend their World Series crown.

“We are not putting any pressure on ourselves and will go out there and play as we know we can. If we do that, the results will come,” Geduld said.

Congrats and welcome to the Roll of Honour club @JustinGeduld. The man fondly known as “Snoop” will play in his 35 th @WorldRugby7s event joining an ever growing list of players including team@mates @snymanphilip, @wernerkok1, @Seabelo_Senatla, @AfrikaCecil and Branco du Preez pic.twitter.com/gHvI9uKbQh

— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) June 1, 2018

Springbok Sevens coach Neil Powell said the hard work in the build-up to this weekend’s tournament was done back in Stellenbosch and applauded the energy and effort this week in London.

“We had a bigger group of player in Stellenbosch and the guys really pushed each other for spot in the squad,” said Powell.

“We did some good work there. I am pleased with our effort here as well. The likes of Justin, Branco (du Preez), Ruhan (Nel) and Philip (Snyman) are keen to play again and that bodes well. They need to go out and enjoy themselves.”

Powell is aware of the log and the fact that Fiji is slightly ahead: “We are not looking at that, but will focus on our game. We are aware of the log positions, but the only way to change that is to go out and play our best.”

It's set to be an absolute cracker 🎉 at the #London7s on Saturday

Two rounds left. Who are you backing? pic.twitter.com/6pY9N5VPp5

— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) June 1, 2018

Springbok Sevens fixtures for day one (SA times):

10.52am: Russia

1.58pm: Canada

5.04pm: Samoa

African News Agency (ANA)

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