Blitzboks coach Powell to experiment at Oktoberfest7s

Cape Town – Neil Powell named a strong and experienced South African
side to travel to Germany next week for the Oktoberfest7s in Munich on 21-22
September.

Siviwe Soyizwapi will lead a team laden with players that
represented their country in the World Rugby Sevens Series in the past
seasons, with the two most experienced Blitzboks, Branco du Preez
(71 tournaments) and Chris Dry (69 tournaments), included for the trip to
Europe.

There is also a return to action for Zain Davids, Mfundo
Ndhlovu, James Murphy and Stedman Gans, all of whom were injured in the latter
part of the 2018/19 World Rugby Sevens Series.

South Africa will play in Pool A alongside New Zealand, England and
Australia for the tournament, which will take place in the Olympic Stadium.
Pool B consists of Germany, Fiji, USA and France.

Powell said the squad reflected the status of his training
squad at the moment as he was limited in selection.

“We have guys coming back from injury, we have some
experienced campaigners and we have some young guys keen to make their mark and
could be stars in the future,” said Powell.

“Some of the players who were involved with their provinces
in the recent Currie Cup and age-group competitions were not yet considered,
while the likes of Cecil Afrika and Justin Geduld are still in rehabilitation
from injuries sustained last season.

“Players like Mfundo and James have not played much for us
during the previous season, so this is a nice early opportunity for them to
stake a claim for the new season. They are coming back from injury and will be
eager to get involved.

“I am very happy with the squad though and keen to see how
we go in Munich,” the coach explained.

Powell plans to use the German tournament to experiment on
small technical changes: “There are a couple of tweaks we are implementing and
I want to see how they work out for us.

“We are still in a conditioning phase, so we know we will
not be as sharp as we can be, but that is not the end of the world. We are
building towards the start of the season, so if there are mistakes, it will be
a good pointer for us,” said Powell.

Powell and his team depart for Munich next Wednesday.

The SA Sevens squad for Munich:

1. Chris Dry

2. Ryan Oosthuizen

3. Impi Visser

4. Zain Davids

5. James Murphy

6. Mfundo Ndhlovu

7. Branco du Preez

8. Selvyn Davids

9. Kurt-Lee Arendse

10. Dewald Human