Blitzboks look to Zain Davids for inspiration at Hong Kong Sevens

THE BLITZBOKS will hope that the return of forward Zain Davids will galvanise the squad at next weekend’s Hong Kong Sevens.

Davids missed the Vancouver Sevens in Canada last month with an injury that he picked up at the Perth Sevens.

His robust style of play and leadership is a welcome boost as the South Africans look to go one step further and win the title after losing 19-12 to Argentina in the Canada final.

Apart from Davids, another stalwart in playmaker Dewald Human is back after being rotated for the Canada event, while teenager Gino Cupido is set to make his debut in Hong Kong in the squad announced by SA Rugby on Wednesday.

From the Canada squad, Ronald Brown is sidelined with an injury, David Brits is being rested after featuring in all four tournaments in the current World Sevens Series season and Sebastiaan Jobb is suspended due to a red card against Fiji.

“Zain’s return is testimony to our medical staff’s ability to rehabilitate players. After Zain’s injury in Perth, we were worried about his comeback time, but the hard work by himself and the medical staff reaped rewards for us,” Blitzboks coach Philip Snyman said on Wednesday.

“The development of our depth remains a core part of our selection policy, while we are also looking at bringing in new energy for each tournament, in this case giving David a break.

“Gino is really talented and has been close to selection a couple of times, and I am really pleased for him. He worked hard over several months now. Dewald comes in for Ronald at flyhalf in a straight swop.”

Cupido has come through the sevens ranks in South Africa, having played at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago, the SA Under-18 side in an international series in the Western Cape, and the SA A side at the Dubai International Invitational last December.

The 19-year-old is a centre in the 15-player code and will play in that position in Hong Kong, having played for Western Province at junior and senior level, while also being part of the Junior Springbok training group.

The Blitzboks have a tough Pool B schedule in Hong Kong as they will face Uruguay, Australia and New Zealand at the 50,000-seater Kai Tak Stadium from March 28-30.

“We played both Australia and New Zealand in Vancouver, and actually had a training match before the tournament with Uruguay, so the teams will know each other well,” Snyman said.

“What we are looking for in Hong Kong is work ethic, clinical execution and a never-say-die attitude on defence. If we manage that, we will come close to our goal of reaching semi-finals again.”

Blitzboks Squad: Ryan Oosthuizen, Impi Visser (co-captain), Zain Davids, Ricardo Duarttee, Selvyn Davids (co-captain), Dewald Human, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Shilton van Wyk, Quewin Nortjé, Donavan Don, Gino Cupido, Zander Reynders, Tristan Leyds

Pool B Fixtures

Friday, March 28 (11.56am): Uruguay, (2.39pm): Australia. Saturday, March 29 (7.43am): New Zealand