Blitzboks head coach Sandile Ngcobo has made five changes to his touring squad for the upcoming two HSBC SVNS tournaments in Vancouver next weekend and Los Angeles a week later.
Impi Visser, Sean Williams, Rosco Specman, Justin Geduld and Darren Adonis will travel to North America after missing last month's game against Australia in Perth, where the Blitzboks finished fifth.
Blitzbox legends Visser, Specman and Geduld played in the opening two tournaments of the 2024 series in Dubai and Cape Town, while Williams and Adonis will be making their first appearances this season.
Adonis last played in Sydney in 2023, while Williams played in London at the end of the previous season.
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Ngcobo said injuries had forced him into selecting the Blitzbox squad, but added that hard work in training had also benefited some players.
“We had to have a fresh team for this trip because we are playing back-to-back tournaments,” Ngcobo said.
“Unfortunately we lost some players to injury after the Perth tournament, but it also gave us an opportunity to pick a healthy and strong squad for the trip.
“Rosco and Justin bring a huge amount of experience and ability, and Impi will return after missing the game against Perth with a neck strain. We have a very physical pool, so we have to fight fire with fire. So it’s great to have Impi back.”
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Ngcobo said he was pleased to have Williams and Adonis included in the Blitzboks' North American tour. He showed a lot of energy in training and will be a ball of fire on tour. He can play sweeper and wing so that's great for us.
“Darren was injured at the beginning of the season but has recovered well. He is a natural center but has also trained as a hooker in recent months and has adapted well to the role.”
The Blitzboks coach said the team, which includes New Zealand, Ireland and Great Britain, will be tough.
“We also have physical opponents and responding to those challenges will be the key to success,” the Blitzboks manager said. “The teams we pick can definitely face some adversity and we expect them to be very competitive in Vancouver. All teams in our pool will be looking for wins. There are no easy matches.”
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Pool schedule (SA times and all matches live on SuperSport):
Friday, February 23rd
23:52: New Zealand
Saturday, February 24th
04:56: United Kingdom
23:05: Ireland
blitzbox team
player – Ryan Oosthuizen, Impi Visser, Zane Davids, Selvin David (captain), Sean Williams, Shilton van Wyk, Rosco Speckman, David Blitz, Darren Adonis, Justin Geduld, Tristan Rays, Ricardo Duarty, Katlego Letebele.
