Johannesburg – The next few days will be very tense for Springbok Sevens coach Neil Powell as he looks to whittle down his squad of 19 players to just a dozen for the Rio Olympics next month.
Thursday, July 14 has been set as the cut-off date for South Africa’s full Olympics contingent to be named and Powell should have a good idea of which way he is going by now.
Powell has had the whole squad together over the last few weeks, as Bryan Habana’s club commitments with French outfit Toulon ended with their French Top 14 final defeat to Racing 92 at the Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona a fortnight ago.
Habana has since returned to South Africa and took part in the extended camp that Powell has kept his players in.
That camp also included the Assupol 7s tournament in Stellenbosch, where the national team went through undefeated, conceding just two tries.
The challenge for Powell now is to address the balance in his 12-man squad.
While the likes of Habana, Ryan Kankowski, Juan de Jongh and Francois Hougaard have all played a role this season, as the Bok Sevens finished second overall in the World Series, he will have to weigh them up against seasoned campaigners.
The temptation to go with the star quality of Habana – a World Cup winner and one of world rugby’s most respected finishers – is massive and it would add gloss to a tournament that will also boast All Blacks World Cup-winning ace Sonny Bill Williams.
But slotting in Habana, who has featured in patches, may not necessarily suit the balance of Powell’s squad.
South Africa have several, seasoned campaigners in their training squad already and the strong debut enjoyed by Siviwe Soyizwapi has also added to their arsenal.
Whatever combination Powell settles on, he will know that they are expected to at least secure a medal at the Games.
The SA Sevens outfit secured the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Scotland.
The rugby tournament at the Olympics starts on August 9.
SA training squad: T im Agaba, Chris Dry, Ryan Kankowski, Kwagga Smith, Kyle Brown, Philip Snyman, Dylan Sage, Cheslin Kolbe, Rosko Specman, Branco du Preez, Cecil Afrika, Justin Geduld, Francois Hougaard, Juan de Jongh, Werner Kok, Ruhan Nel, Seabelo Senatla, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Bryan Habana
– THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT