New Blitzbok coach Sandile Ngcobo has named his squad for the season-opening HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Hong Kong.
The likes of Ryan Oosthuizen, Branco du Preez, Dewald Human, Darren Adonis and Shilton van Wyk were all recalled back to the squad.
Meanwhile, Cecil Afrika, Angelo Davids, Muller du Plessis and Shaun Williams miss out for various reasons after featuring for the Blitzbok in the global showpiece in Cape Town last month.
New Blitzbok head coach Sandile Ngcobo and his assistant coach Philip Snyman will be making their coaching debuts.
Du Preez has returned to the squad after last featuring in Los Angeles in August, while Human is back after he recovered from an injury.
Oosthuizen was named in the wider RWC Sevens group but missed out on the final 12-player squad, while Adonis and Van Wyk are also back in the squad after last playing in Los Angeles.
Ngcobo has previously worked with the likes of Du Preez, Human, Oosthuizen, Adonis and Van Wyk when the new coach took his wider squad to the Kanonkop Sevens in Middelburg, Mpumalanga last month.
Afrika has gone back into retirement after being recalled for RWC Sevens duty due to a lack of options at flyhalf, Angelo Davids is with the DHL Stormers, while Du Plessis and Williams are both unavailable due to injury, joining Zain Davids, Justin Geduld, Lubabalo Dobela and Tiaan Pretorius on the sidelines.
“It’s good to be able to travel to Hong Kong with a settled squad and to have some players back who missed out in Cape Town, but what we are looking forward to the most, is playing again at the highest level, and to go out and compete to our full potential,” said Ngcobo.
“It doesn’t matter where we go, we just want to go out and play to the best of our ability, especially as the last few years have been difficult with all the interruptions.
“However, once we returned to some form of normality earlier this year, it was great to see the spirit of sevens rugby rise again, and as a group we can’t wait to get the ball rolling for the new season.
“A new season brings with it new possibilities and new challenges, and the players in our training squad are raring to go.”
The Blitzbok squad for the Hong Kong Sevens:
Sako Makata – 16 tournaments, 60 points (12 tries)
Ryan Oosthuizen – 32 tournaments, 160 points (32 tries)
Impi Visser – 21 tournaments, 115 points (23 tries)
JC Pretorius – 20 tournaments, 225 points (45 tries)
Branco du Preez – 82 tournaments, 1434 points (100 tries, 464 conversions, 1 penalty goal, 1 drop goal)
Selvyn Davids – 27 tournaments, 564 points (69 tries, 108 conversions, 1 penalty goal)
Ronald Brown – 8 tournaments, 285 points (27 tries, 75 conversions)
Dewald Human – 10 tournaments, 211 points (17 tries, 63 conversions)
Siviwe Soyizwapi (captain) – 40 tournaments, 670 points (134 tries)
Mfundo Ndhlovu – 10 tournaments, 60 points (12 tries).
Christie Grobbelaar – 8 tournaments, 70 points (14 tries)
Shilton van Wyk – 4 tournaments, 30 points (6 tries)
Darren Adonis – 7 tournaments, 54 points (10 tries, 2 conversions)
Photo by Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
