Nine players capped at XVs in Springboks' Challenger Series squad
Springboks coach Renfred Dazel has included just one uncapped sevens player – XVs out-half Libbie Janse van Rensburg – in an experienced women’s squad for this weekend’s opening leg of the 2023 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series at Markotter Stadium in Stellenbosch.
The two-weekend series opens this Thursday with South Africa taking on the Czechs and Mexico before completing their pool on Friday against Madagascar, and the inclusion of van Rensburg means that nine of the 13-strong squad on duty have Test match experience in XVs.
While van Rensburg, who earned her 12th Test cap earlier this month when playing for South Africa versus Spain, has yet to play in the World Series, she has international sevens experience having played for an SA Select squad when they toured France in 2016, a trip that coincidentally had Dazel coaching in his first stint with the national side.
Dazel has included six players from the squad that last ran out for the Springboks at the HSBC Cape Town Sevens in December – Rights Mkhari, Kemisetso Baloyi, Marlize de Bruin, Nadine Roos, Simamkele Namba and Liske Lategan.
“I’m really happy with the squad and am going into this Challenger Series knowing that we prepared well,” said Dazel. “The big difference between this squad and the one that played in Cape Town last December is the amount of preparation we had for this. Last time around, we had a week to prepare for the Dubai Invitational, which was followed a week later by the Cape Town tournament.
“We had now had a good preparation and the players really worked hard to put themselves in the best position possible for this series. The fact that we could also have access to Nadine, Libbie and Jakkie (Cilliers) to add depth to our squad is much appreciated. We had a good run and will approach this weekend’s tournament with the knowledge that we are as well prepared as we can be.”
SPRINGBOKS: 1. Rights Mkhari, 2. Sizophila Solontsi, 3. Zintle Mpupha (co-captain), 4. Simamkele Namba, 5. Liske Lategan, 6. Kemisetso Baloyi, 7. Mathrin Simmers (co-captain), 8. Nadine Roos, 9. Eloise Webb, 10. Marlize de Bruin, 11. Ayanda Malinga, 12. Zandile Masuku, 13. Libbie Janse van Rensburg.
World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series women’s pools:
A: Poland, Colombia, Hong Kong China, Paraguay;
B: South Africa, Madagascar, Mexico, Czechia;
C: China, Belgium, Papua New Guinea, Thailand.
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France look set to dominate the NH for some time at this rate. Things clicking nicely for them.
However, I do they think they are vulnerable to nerves. They allowed England to throw them. And Scotland in that first half. They don’t respond well when things aren’t going their way.
I also feel they may be vulnerable in certain positions. At least Lucu, for example, has stepped up in DuPont’s absence. I feel like they may struggle missing key players in quite a few positions.
On that note - I am looking forward to seeing who else they have when they tour NZ with what will be their B-Team. If they’re going to lose the opportunity to galvanize their first choice team - then the opportunity to give others a chance in the cauldron of New Zealand must be maximized for what it’s worth.
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