Vancouver Sevens: Blitzboks drawn with NZ, Russia and Scotland

The Blitzboks remain top of the World Series Sevens table, despite a few slip-ups in recent tournaments.

They can’t afford any more stumbles, though, especially not in Vancouver, where they are drawn in a pool with their closest rivals – New Zealand.

The Blitzboks are definitely missing Seabelo Senatla since he departed for Super Rugby. They slipped up against Argentina in the semifinals of the past weekend’s Las Vegas Sevens, where the USA claimed the title.

The South African Sevens side then lost 26-22 to Fiji in the bronze final, finishing fourth overall.

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This weekend, the World Series Sevens heads to Vancouver in Canada, before travelling East in April… with a Commonwealth Games pitstop between.

The Blitzboks have been drawn in a tricky p

Do you follow the Blitzboks here is the fixtures and the squad

Dylan Sage and Stedman Gans have also returned to the squad.

Sage, who missed the last two tournaments in Dubai and Cape Town due to a back injury, comes in for the injured Chris Dry while Gans replaces Branco du Preez, who picked up a hamstring injury in training last week.

‘We made the call to take Sikhumbuzo along as a reserve player in order for him to get first-hand experience of what a Sevens Series tournament is all about and he will be called upon if anyone picks up an injury,’ explained Blitzboks coach Neil Powell.

‘Dylan has been training solidly over the past couple of weeks, while Stedman was in very good form for the Academy side in South America, so I am expecting solid contributions from them next weekend. We are losing four players to their Super Rugby teams after the Hamilton tournament, so we need a strong tour in order to stay in contention for the overall title.’

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