The Blitzboks will be hoping that David Brits can add some blitz of his own when he makes his debut in this weekend’s Perth Sevens in Australia .
Brits was a slippery customer for the Cheetahs as a skilled but abrasive outside centre and played a significant role in the Cheetahs winning the Currie Cup last year.
The 26-year-old has subsequently chosen a new career path and will soon be in the green and gold of the Blitzboks team he has long admired. In Perth on Monday, he was given his first training jersey in a traditional ceremony.
“This was an incredible feeling, being handed the jersey for the first time,” said Brits, who represented the SA Schools and Junior Springboks teams in his younger days.
“I knew about the custom but I did not how much it was going to affect me – it was profound. It is only a training jersey and not even the match jersey, but it had the Springbok on it and that means everything.”
Brits was named in the squad for the third tournament of the current World Sevens Series after having missed out on the first two in Dubai and Cape Town due to injury after he broke a rib in his first Blitzbok training session.
“That was by far my biggest challenge I had to overcome as a rugby player and there were a lot of ups and downs,” he admitted.
“The pace is so much faster in sevens and then there is the fitness you need to play at this level. And the decision-making when fatigued is very challenging.
“But I love challenges and want to contribute to the guys who worked hard alongside me to be at our best for the weekend. I have a role to play in the team and that will be my focus.
“We have very fast and elusive players in the team and part of my job will be to create opportunities for them. And of course, to make tackles and stop opponents.”
IOL Sport