The welcomed return of a seasoned Springbok Sevens campaigner was offset by the information that the Blitzboks will probably be with out captain Siviwe Soyizwapi for the entire of the upcoming Sevens Series.
It was officially confirmed on Tuesday that energetic talisman and playmaker Rosko Specman will probably be returning to the Springbok Sevens setup on a short-term deal.
However, whereas the Blitzboks will once more boast a ‘Speckies’ in their ranks, there won’t be a ‘Shakes’ as their vastly skilled captain Siviwe Soyizwapi won’t solely miss the Olympic Games qualifying event in Zimbabwe subsequent month, but additionally the forthcoming SVNS collection because of a severe knee harm.
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BLITZBOKS SKIPPER SUFFER HORROR INJURY
Soyizwapi injured his knee in a warm-up match final weekend and has already undergone an operation. The unfortunate wing now faces the lengthy street of restoration that can hopefully see him again on the sphere in 9 months’ time.
For Springbok Sevens coach Sandile Ngcobo, the information of Specman’s return was good, however the actuality of Soyizwapi’s harm not.
Ngcobo will even have to chop his present coaching squad to 14 gamers on Friday, because the fine-tuning for the Rugby Africa Sevens Olympic Qualifier will begin in all earnest subsequent week.
“It is really sad for Siviwe, he is such an incredible leader in the team and his record on the world stage speaks for itself,” stated Ngcobo.
“There is not much you can do about injuries, as they are part and parcel of rugby and our focus for him will be to make sure his recovery and rehab goes as smoothly as possible.”
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The return of Specman comes at an applicable time in that regard.
“Rosko is a senior participant and people in the squad have a variety of respect for him and what he can add, so to have him again is nice.
“His abilities are well-known, and it is clear from my conversations with him that is he is very keen to contribute to the system again. He brings energy, game-breaking capabilities, and experience to the squad, so we are happy to have him back, especially in light of losing the experience of ‘Shakes’ for the season.”
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Ngcobo stated the preparations for the Zimbabwe event have been going properly.
“We worked hard thus far, this is a massive tournament for us and the focus from the players is spot-on,” he stated. “It is a nice headache to have now when we need to trim the squad, but it was up to the players to show us why they should be in the final group. We analysed our warm-up games properly and I am happy with the effort from those who will be in the final group.”
The Rugby Africa event in Harare will happen on 16 and 17 September
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