Springbok Women’s Sevens coach, Paul Delport, opted for some continuity and experience alongside a rash of exciting new talent as he invited 14 players to their third conditioning camp of the season, to be held at Stellenbosch Academy of Sport from 11-17 March.
The monthly camps at SAS comes after the re-ignition of the Springbok Women’s Sevens programme, with the team’s last tournament – the HSBC Cape Town Sevens in 2019 – now all but a distant memory.
With their first tournament of the new season at the Rugby Africa Sevens in Tunisia at the end of April, the Springbok Women’s Sevens team are starting to fine tune their efforts as they prepare for the best on the continent, where victory will also result in qualification to play in the Commonwealth Games.
Where the first two camps, in January and February, were aimed at re-introducing the players to rugby sevens’ principles and fitness, this time around – the second last camp before departure to North Africa – they will play in a number of matches to sharpen minds and bodies.
Six players with HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series experience – Rights Mkhari, Liske Lategan, Eloise Webb, Mathrin Simmers, Lusanda Dumke and Sizophila Solontsi – and a Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 stand-out in Snenhlanhla Shozi, have been invited to the camp.
Delport – boosted by the news that the team received and accepted an invitation to the HSBC France Sevens in Toulouse in May – also called on six players with Test experience to potentially become dual code internationals. Ayanda Malinga, Lerato Makua, Donelle Snyders, Alichia Arries, Felicia Jacobs and Simamkele Namba will be hoping to crack the nod in the shorter version of the game as well.
The squad will play a number of matches against Boland and Western Province on Saturday, 12 March, at Markötter Stadium in Stellenbosch.
The Springbok Women’s Sevens Training Squad:
Rights Mkhari
Lerato Makua
Ayanda Malinga
Liske Lategan
Eloise Webb
Mathrin Simmers
Asisipho Plaatjie
Lusanda Dumke
Snenhlanhla Shozi
Sizophila Solontsi
Donelle Snyders
Simamkele Namba
Felicia Jacobs
Alichia Arries
Photo 1 Caption: Springbok Women’s Sevens coach, Paul Delport, opted for some continuity and experience alongside a rash of exciting new talent as he invited 14 players to their third conditioning camp of the season, to be held at Stellenbosch Academy of Sport from 11-17 March. Photo: Women’s Boks (Twitter)
With editing by gsport
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