The top seeded Springbok Sevens and Wales will play each other in the opening match of the London Sevens as Paul Treu’s side look to take a step closer to their first ever IRB Sevens World Series crown.

The two-day tournament in England is the penultimate tournament fixture on the World Series calendar. The popular Series ends a week later when Edinburgh play host to rugby’s Sevens stars.

South Africa has won three tournaments so far this season and they will be in action in three matches on the first day. The Springbok Sevens take on Wales in Pool A, followed by Germany and tackle Australia in their final fixture on day one.

Paul Treu’s team retained their Adelaide Sevens crown in their last outing, a result which stretched their overall lead over second placed England (76 points) to 28 points.

Hong Kong winners Fiji will face the much-improved Kenya side in Pool C, who will be buoyed by their first ever Series Cup final appearance in Adelaide. The USA and Scotland make up the rest of the pool.

RWC Sevens runners-up Argentina are the top-seeds in Group D and faces tough opposition in defending Series champions New Zealand, while Portugal and Canada completes the final pool pairing.

“Wales have done very well recently and it will not surprise me at all if they recall most of their RWC Sevens winners for the last two tournaments,” explains Treu.

”Australia has also improved with every tournament this season and they finished as pool leaders for the first time recently in Adelaide. Germany is a bit of an unknown quantity but the competitive nature of Sevens is such that you cannot underestimate any of the teams,” added Treu.

IRB Sevens Manager Beth Coalter said rugby enthusiasts can expect another exciting tournament in London: “Right from the first tournament in Dubai last November it was clear that the 10th year of the Series was going to be hugely competitive. With London kicking off the last two tournaments this year and a bumper crowd expected, the scene is set for an incredible climax to the Series.”

The Springbok Sevens team is currently busy with preparations for the last two tournaments at their base camp in Stellenbosch and the squad leaves on May 16 for London.

Source + Pic: sarugby.co.za

South Africa thoroughly deserved their title again as they first had to overcome New Zealand and Fiji before their convincing display against Kenya on the third and final day of the tournament. In doing so they also exacted revenge for their 15-14 pool loss against the same opposition on day two at the Adelaide Oval.

Paul Treu’s team went into the halftime break with a vital 14-7 lead after tries by Robert Ebersohn and Vuyo Zangqa. The Kenyan captain Humphrey Kayange replied with a fine converted effort.

After the break, Kenya came out attacking the SA line almost at will, but the Springbok Sevens held firm and their defence was simply outstanding.

The second half produced thrilling action, with Kenya looking dangerous every time they were in possession. But in the end it was the greater experience and desire of the South Africans which saw them ran in two unanswered tries to clinch their second Adelaide title in two years and fourth Series win overall this season.

Ryno Benjamin scored a fine effort, rounding the Kenyan defence on the outside, to put the match out of reach for Kenya. Renfred Dazel, one of the SA stars, then chased his chip successfully to score his team’s fourth try.

South Africa now leads the World Series on 104 points. Two tournament remains before the end of the season, in London and Edinburgh respectively.

Point scorers:

South Africa: Tries: Robert Ebersohn, Vuyo Zangqa, Ryno Benjamin, and Renfred Dazel. Conversions: Dazel (3).

Kenya: Try: Humphrey Kayange

The season so far:

Dubai, UAE – South Africa champions, beat England
George, South Africa – South Africa champions, beat New Zealand
Wellington, NZ – England champions, beat New Zealand
San Diego, USA – Argentina champions, beat England
Hong Kong – Fiji champions, beat South Africa

The Springbok Sevens won the 2008 final against a powerful New Zealand team and they eventually finished second on the Series log behind their great rivals.

The South Africans shrugged off their disappointing showing at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai with some sparkling displays of attacking rugby in Hong Kong last weekend, where they lost a thrilling final by two points to crowd favourites Fiji.

That performance allowed Paul Treu’s men to regain the outright lead on the Series log (84 points). Another good showing in Adelaide will edge the SA team closer to their ultimate dream of winning the Series outright for the first time.

Last weekend the team lost the services of Philip Snyman who, during the past few months, have developed into a key member of the team. Snyman sustained a hip injury in Hong Kong and have already returned home to Bloemfontein.

Howard Noble has already joined the team as replacement and his experience has allowed him to slot in easily with the rest of the squad.

The Series title is the big prize for Treu, but the experienced coach said his team’s major focus in Adelaide is to come through the pool stages first, and then to approach the knock-out round one game at a time.

“The surface suits us as well here in Adelaide but we’re not going to focus on winning tournaments, we just want to top our pool and then take it from there,” said Treu.

South Africa shares Pool D with the Cook Islands, Japan and Kenya.

Fixtures:

Friday: 17h52 (Aus time): SA vs. Cook Islands
Saturday: 14h27: SA vs. Japan; 18h10: SA vs. Kenya

South Africa in the IRB Sevens World Series 2008/09:

Dubai: Cup Final, won v England 19-12
George: Cup Final, won v NZ 12-7
Wellington: Plate Final, won v Wales 26-12
San Diego: Cup Semi-final, lost v England 19-22
Hong Kong: Cup Final, lost v Fiji 24-26

Current Series Position:
1st, 84 points (facts: www.irb.com)

Source: sarugby.com

The inspirational Mzwandile Stick returns in place of the injured Gio Aplon, while Chase Minnaar replaces Paul Delport who, like Aplon, also suffers from a knee injury. The South African squad leaves on Sunday for Hong Kong via Johannesburg.

The hugely popular Hong Kong tournament is a vital event on the Series calendar because it will be played over three days and, more importantly, has 30 points on offer to the winner as suppose to the standard winning bonus of 20 points. The tournament starts on Friday 27 March.

Treu announced that the captaincy duties will be shared between Neil Powell, Mpho Mbiyozo and Stick. Stick was in sensational form for South Africa during the first two tournaments in Dubai and George, which the Bok Sevens team won in convincing style. He picked up an injury on the first day of the Wellington Sevens, which ruled him out of the USA event in San Diego and the World Cup Sevens in Dubai.

The SA team has two training matches against the Western Province Academy under its belt for the week and Treu believes that his team is well prepared.

“I am pleased at the response of the players during the training sessions and especially during the warm-up matches. We have worked really hard at what we believed were the shortcomings in Wellington, San Diego and Dubai.

“We are still joint leaders (with England) on the Series log and the guys are hungry to repeat the two good performances at these tournaments last year,” said Treu.

Last year South Africa were beaten finalist in Hong Kong while they captured the Adelaide title a week later by beating the Kiwi’s in a thrilling Cup final.

The South African Sevens squad to Hong Kong and Adelaide is:Br> Mpho Mbiyozo, Philip Snyman, Frankie Horne, Kyle Brown, Neil Powell, Renfred Dazel, Mzwandile Stick, Vuyo Zangqa, Ryno Benjamin, Robert Ebersohn, Lionel Mapoe, Chase Minnaar.

Source: sarugby.co.za