Cape Town — Springbok women's Sevens coach Paul Delport has named 13 players in his Rugby World Cup Sevens training squad, with four players having featured at the showpiece before.
The World Cup, the first to be hosted in Africa, will take place in Cape Town from 9-11 September.
Nadine Roos, Mathrin Simmers, Eloise Webb and Zintle Mpupha were part of Delport’s World Cup squad for the 2018 event in San Francisco and are in line for a return at the spectacle, with Simmers eyeing her third Rugby World Cup Sevens.
Roos, Simmers, Webb, Mpupha, Ayanda Malinga, Sizophila Solontsi and Lerato Makua played for South Africa in the France event of the World Sevens Series, where South Africa were an invitational side, while Nolwazi Hlabangane, Zandile Masuku and Felicia Jacobs made their international debuts at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last month.
Marlize de Bruin just returned from Chile with the squad who competed at the World Rugby Challenger Series event.
Bok wing Simamkele Namba is the only player who has not played for the team at international level before. She was part of Delport's wider squad earlier this year, but was either not available due to injury or had fifteens commitments.
Namba, Roos, Makua, Malinga, Solontzi and Mpupha will all be returning from the Bok squad after their 2-0 series victory over Spain.
“They have all played Sevens this year, so there will a good foundation and that is a positive,” said Delport.
“The first couple of days will be used to see how much is needed to get them on (the) same level from a conditioning perspective, and just to ease everybody into being a squad again.
“This is a very exciting group of players. Sadly, we have lost some players to injury in the lead-up to the World Cup, which was the one tournament everyone wanted to play at, and one has to feel for those players, but that is the realities of sport.
“This is a group of determined individuals and if we combine that mindset, the team will give a good account of themselves.”
The team will assemble in Stellenbosch for their Rugby World Cup Sevens training camp on Wednesday.
The invited players are: Nadine Roos, Liske Lategan, Lerato Makua, Marlize de Bruin, Nolwazi Hlabangane (all Blue Bulls), Mathrin Simmers, Eloise Webb (both Border), Ayanda Malinga (Boland), Sizophila Solontsi (Sharks), Zandile Masuku (SWD), Zintle Mpupha, Felicia Jacobs, Simamkele Namba (all Western Province)
IOL Sport