Added incentive at Interprovincial Sevens in Nelspruit
The SA Rugby Interprovincial Sevens tournament this year has an added incentive for players and officials when it kicks off at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on 21 and 22 October.
Sixteen men’s and 17 women’s teams will push each other to the limit on Friday and Saturday in search of the glory of being named South Africa’s best provincial sevens team.
The players will also be spurred on by the presence of national coaches at the tournament, scouting for available talent to be drafted into the professional sevens structures.
Springbok Sevens Academy Manager, Marius Schoeman, will be scanning for potential players alongside SA Sevens Academy coach, Paul Delport, while SA Springbok Women’s Sevens coach, Renfred Dazel, will be keen to add to the depth of his squad currently training at their base at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport.
“This tournament has proved in the past not only to provide spectators with first class sevens rugby, but also guide us at national level to a good understanding of the depth we have at provincial level,” said Schoeman.
“We are taking our Springbok Sevens Academy side to Dubai in December and I am looking to reward a number of guys at this tournament with an invitation to come and train with us with selection to Dubai in mind. We will be looking at fitness and skill levels, but also how players operate in a team environment, as this is crucial in sevens rugby.”
Dazel attended last year’s tournament at the same venue and left the Lowveld richly rewarded, with the likes of Chané Stadler, Megan Comley, Nadine Roos, Nomsa Mokwai and Lamla Momoti receiving invites to join the squad at SAS.
“We are looking forward to this,” said Dazel, who will soon start prepping his team for participation for the first tournament of the World Rugby’s Women’s Sevens Series, in Dubai on 1 and 2 December.
“Last year we selected a group of players for testing at the tournament and some of them have become key members of our squad. This tournament serves as a fantastic platform to see what the players have to offer, as we get to see them in action in a few matches over the two days.”
The tournament will also provide an ideal training run for three national referees doing duty at the tournament. Newly-promoted World Series referee Jaco Kotze will join regular referees Ben Crouse and Aimee Barrett on the international stage this year, but will first officiate in numerous matches on the Mbombela Stadium pitches.
This will provide them with an ideal opportunity to fine-tune their preparations for the opening tournament of this year’s World Series.
The Blue Bulls are the defending champions in both the men’s and women’s competitions. The action gets underway on Friday at 10h00, with the main stadium field and adjacent fields both hosting matches until 19h00. Saturday’s schedule starts at 08h00 and concludes with the Men’s Cup Final at 16h20.
Issued by SA Rugby Communications
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