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Cape Town - The Blitzboks arrived safely in the USA after a 36-hour trip from Cape Town via London and are keen to get their preparations going for the Las Vegas Sevens, the fifth tournament of ten in the World Rugby Sevens Series.
Head coach Neil Powell said it was good to finally arrive in Nevada after the long trip from South Africa, although their travel was a bit easier than last season.
“It is a tough trip, but luckily it was straight to Las Vegas from London,” said Powell.
“Last year we had to travel from London to New York to Phoenix and then only on to Las Vegas. This time was a little bit better, but it was still a 36-hour trip from leaving home till arriving at our hotel here in Vegas.”
Powell will ease the players into training this week.
“I am happy where we are with our preparations and will take it slow at the beginning of the week,” said the Blitzboks mentor.
“Our first game, against Canada, is late on Friday (early Saturday morning SA time), which means that we can still have our captain's run on the Friday morning.”
Powell arrived with a fit squad, something he is pretty pleased about.
“The turn-around between the tournaments is quite short and the guys do pick up bumps and bruises, but I am happy with the squad's fitness. There is still one or two things we need to work on, but I am happy that we have enough time to sort out those small margins,” said Powell.
The South Africans will face Canada (Saturday March 4, 04:43 SA time), France (Saturday, March 4, 07:42 SA time) and Wales (Sunday, March 5, 02:08 SA time) in Pool A of the tournament.
Blitzboks squad (with tournament caps and points):
1. Chris Dry (56, 405)
2. Philip Snyman (captain, 41, 246)
3. Dylan Sage (11, 50)
4. Zain Davids (2, 0)
5. Werner Kok (23, 275)
6. Siviwe Soyizwapi (7, 50)
7. Branco du Preez (49, 963)
8. Stephan Dippenaar (30, 210)
9. Justin Geduld (29, 659)
10. Cecil Afrika (47, 1167)
11. Rosko Specman (17, 203)
12. Ruhan Nel (15, 140)
13. Stedman Gans* (0, 0)
*Reserve player
