Neil Powell was announced as the new Blitzbokke coach on Saturday.
The former Blitzbokke captain will be taking charge as coach at the Gold Coast Sevens in Australia.
“Following his retirement as an active player in 2012, we took Neil into our structures with a view to developing him as a coach of the future,” said SARU CEO Jurie Roux.
Powell will also be teaming up with former team mate Vuyo Zangqa who will be assistant coach. As players both were part of the Blitzbokke that won the HSBC Sevens Series in 2008 / 09.
Zangqa at age 32 has represented the Bulldogs and Leopards and has also played in 19 Sevens Tournaments.
Powell at age 35 has quite a complete history behind him, as he has played for the Cats, Cheetahs, Sharks and Bulls in Super Rugby and has also played for the Griquas, Blue Bulls and Free State Cheetahs at Currie Cup level. He played in 32 Sevens Tournaments.
With this new coaching staff all having played some time under former coach Paul Treu it is doubtfull that we will see any drastic changes in the game plan.
In the meantime, the SA Sevens squad to compete at the Gold Coast Sevens tournament in Australia has also been announced:
SARU has announced an experienced Springbok Sevens squad to play in the Gold Coast Sevens tournament on 12 – 13 October in Australia, which marks the first tournament of the 2013 / 14 HSBC Sevens World Series presented by the International Rugby Board.
Livewire scrumhalf Branco du Preez and wing Seabelo Senatla were not considered due to injury. Du Preez is recovering from hip surgery and should make his return to action early in December. Junior Springbok Senatla is out with a lower back injury.
Their replacements are Sampie Mastriet, a regular on the wing for the Vodacom Blue Bulls, and Mark Richards, who himself has now recovered fully from the Achilles heel injury which has kept him on the sideline for most of the previous season.
Otherwise, the squad have a familiar and settled look, with veteran Frankie Horne set to play in his 51st World Series event and captain Kyle Brown in his 34th tournament. Prolific try scorer Cornal Hendricks will especially be looking forward to continuing with his try-scoring exploits after scoring the second most tries in the World Series, which consists of nine tournaments worldwide.
Springbok Sevens team:
- Chris Dry (28)
- Philip Snyman (15)
- Frankie Horne (50)
- Jamba Ulengo (6)
- Cornal Hendricks (16)
- Kyle Brown (33) – captain
- Sampie Mastriet (2)
- Stephan Dippenaar (14)
- Justin Geduld (4)
- Cecil Afrika (24)
- Mark Richards (7)
- Steven Hunt (19)
Coach: Neil Powell
Assistant coach:Vuyo Zangqa
I heard a rumor that Sean Adendorff is involved with the 7’s??
What happened to him – from joined Junior World Cup player of the year and never heard of him again?