Springbok Sevens coach Neil Powell has called up Sandile Ngcobo to replace the injured Selvyn Davids in the Blitzboks squad for the Singapore Sevens this weekend.
Davids was ruled out of the eighth tournament in the World Rugby Sevens Series, to be played at the Singapore National Stadium on 15 and 16 April, due to an ankle injury sustained in Hong Kong, where the Blitzboks lost in the final of the event to Fiji last weekend.
Although Davids, who made his debut in Hong Kong in the sweeper role, was replaced by the travelling reserve, Ryan Oosthuizen, for the Cup Final, Powell has opted for another backline player as replacement.
“It is a pity that Selvyn picked up an injury as he showed good touches in Hong Kong, but injuries are part of rugby, something we are pretty aware of at the moment,” Powell said.
Rosko Specman, Kyle Brown, Stephan Dippenaar, Justin Geduld, Carel du Preez and now Davids are all injured, while Kwagga Smith and Seabelo Senatla are playing Super Rugby.
“We are replacing a backline player with another one, so Sandile was the obvious call,” explained Powell.
“He also joined us in Vancouver following the injury to Stephan Dippenaar, so is no stranger to our system. Ryan will remain the back-up, but as he saw in Hong Kong, could be called upon at any time.”
The Springbok Sevens team will play in Pool B with England, France and Japan. They are 23 points ahead of Fiji on the overall log with tournaments in Singapore, Paris and London left.