Sevens
Sick mother delays Treu
2010-03-13 10:31
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Johannesburg - The Springbok Sevens received a further setback in the title defence of their Adelaide Sevens crown when it was learned that coach Paul Treu will only join the team on Friday when the tournament starts.
After a week of disruptions, Treu has decided to stay behind as his mother is in hospital and will only fly out to join the team on Wednesday, arriving in Adelaide on Friday morning just hours before the start of the tournament.
It was a tough decision for Treu to make, as the team was already disrupted this week by the loss of stand-in captain Mzwandile Stick, who injured his knee in a practice session and was forced to withdraw from the two tournaments in Adelaide and Hong Kong.
Kyle Brown will take over as captain for the two tournaments, but if one considers the Boks have already lost two other captains in Neil Powell and Paul Delport, as well as their chief playmaker in Renfred Dazel to injury this season, the side that will front up in Adelaide is young and inexperienced.
“It was a very difficult decision for me to take, but my family comes first and this is where I’m needed at the moment,” Treu said, “I will hopefully be able to join the team before the start of the tournament but it is very difficult not to get onto that plane tonight.”
In Treu’s absence, the team’s internal player leadership will run the practice sessions, under the watchful eye of Treu’s management team, which for this tournament will also include former Reds skills coach and Australian touch rugby expert Jason Stanton.
Stanton helped the team with their preparations in Wellington last month and has an impressive CV, having helped Australia to three consecutive Touch Rugby World titles, was the former skills coach of the Reds and last year guided the Australian Women’s team to victory in the IRB Sevens World Cup in Dubai.
South Africa will kick off their quest for a third successive Adelaide crown in Pool C alongside Samoa, France and Japan in the March 19-21 event.
A week later their pool opponents will be Kenya, Zimbabwe and Korea at the Hong Kong Sevens.
The defending World Series champions are currently seventh on the log.
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