Cecil Afrika looking forward to George tournament
Springbok Sevens flyer Cecil Afrika, who has established himself as the team’s main attacking weapon in just one full season of international sevens rugby, is looking forward to play in front of local fans at this weekend’s Emirates Airline SA Sevens tournament in George.
The Port Elizabeth-born speedster quickly slotted in as one of several new faces last season and towards the end of the 2009/2010 Series he was already one of the stalwarts in a team which had several changes from the Series-winning squad of the previous year.
He delivered a match-winning performance last Saturday against Australia to win the Plate final in Dubai. The nippy player was one of the stars of the tournament and apart from his sublime showing against the impressive young Australians he also finished the Dubai tournament as leading point scorer and top try scorer.
Afrika scored 72 points over two days in Dubai and his ten tries was the most by any of the players in action.
Last year, in his first home tournament in George, he already caught the eye with his electric pace and silky handling skills and the South African supporters will be hoping for more good performances from him in George.
Springbok Sevens coach, Paul Treu, said on Tuesday the development of Afrika came as no surprise to him.
“Cecil works very hard in training and he listens to advice, from the management and the more experienced players around him. He is an unselfish character and these qualities make him a good team player,” said Treu.
Afrika was full of praise for his SA Sevens team mates and praised the leadership of the senior players in the team.
“We are one big family and I’ve still got much to learn. I’m quite embarrassed when people single out individuals because this a team sport and I’m just grateful to be in the right place on the field after my team mates have done all the hard work.
“All of us realise that we must improve on our performance of last season overall and especially our showing in George in front of our home fans,” said Afrika.
The SA Sevens team had their first full training session on Tuesday morning at the Saasveld rugby grounds of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University campus in George.
Earlier in the day, the team visited a rural school in Groot Brakrivier to hand over school shoes and rugby balls as part of the Bob’s for Good project.
South Africa will play against Zimbabwe, Portugal and Argentina in Pool D on Friday.
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