Pumas speedster Rosco Speckman was this week added to the Springbok Sevens training squad in Stellenbosch.

The group is preparing for the next two legs of the IRB Sevens World Series – in Dubai and Port Elizabeth.

rugby365

Speckman is no stranger to the Sevens code, as he was previously invited to a training outing with the Springbok Sevens.

He was one of the main attacking weapons during the Pumas’ unbeaten march to the First Division title, scoring 11 tries and also a member of the victorious SA President’s XV at the IRB Tbilisi Cup in Georgia.

The Dubai Sevens will take place on November 29 and 30 in the United Arab Emirates and the Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens tournament follows a week later (December 7 and 8) in Port Elizabeth.

The Grahamstown-born Speckman is now one of four players added to the wider training group based at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport.

Nardus van der Walt and Shaun Adendorff (flanks) joined their Blue Bulls colleague Sampie Mastriet in the training squad last week, which also includes Golden Lions flank Kwagga Smith. EP Kings fullback Siviwe Soyizwapi is another squad newcomer and he also boast with Super Rugby experience.

To assist them in their preparation for Dubai and PE, the squad will be in action in several training matches over the next two days against the local universities – Stellenbosch (Maties), Western Cape (UWC) and Cape Town (UCT).

These matches will take place at the Paul Roos Markötter Stadium.

Meanwhile the trio of Paul Delport, Seabelo Senatla and Branco du Preez are continuing with their rehabilitation, with only Du Preez likely to be considered for the next two tournaments, depending on how his trouble hip respond to treatment.

Veteran Delport is recovering from knee surgery, while Senatla is nursing a troublesome back.

South African Sevens squad: Chris Dry, Philip Snyman, Frankie Horne, Kyle Brown, Justin Geduld, Stephan Dippenaar, Paul Delport, Steven Hunt, Seabelo Senatla, Jamba Ulengo, WJ Strydom, Werner Kok, Cecil Afrika, Mark Richards, Ruwellyn Isbell, Kwagga Smith (Golden Lions), Nardus van der Walt (Blue Bulls), Shaun Adendorff (Blue Bulls), Sampie Mastriet (Blue Bulls), Branco du Preez, Tshotsho Mbovane, Siviwe Soyizwapi (EP Kings), Rosco Speckman (Pumas).