Johannesburg - The ailing Blitzboks are hoping that reinforcements in Sako Makata and Angelo Davids will spark a comeback for them in this weekend’s London Sevens after a horror run on the World Rugby Sevens Series.
The pair had the painful experience of watching from South Africa as the Blitzboks stuttered to a halt in Toulouse, especially knowing how much the team was hurting during their unexpectedly disappointing showing at the France Sevens.
Sitting in the Western Cape and unable to do anything about the happenings in the south of France made Makata feel helpless, but the situation will be vastly different for him at Twickenham on Saturday as he should add heaps of energy to the team.
Makata and Davids joined the Blitzboks in London in place of the injured Pretorius duo of Tiaan and JC, and for the new arrivals, it is all a matter of contributing as much as possible.
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“I was gutted to miss out on most of Singapore and then Vancouver and obviously Toulouse, but now I have another chance to contribute, and I want to make it count," said Makata, who was in fine form before injury struck.
“Watching from the outside was agonising as you feel you can do things differently, but it is maybe because you are watching from a different perspective being far away.”
Davids, who was playing for Western Province while the first seven tournaments of the Series were underway, said he had kept sharp doing 'Sevens stuff' and feels he has integrated well already.
“I was hoping to bring the smiles back and I think it has worked,” said Davids. “We had a great session today and I think one of the reasons was because the guys had their smiles back. We had no luck in Toulouse and that compounded the mistakes we were making. I am positive it will be fixed this weekend.”
Energy, smiles...#BestOfUs@HSBC_Sport pic.twitter.com/aKzPfaD7wA
Davids was always set to return to the Sevens code in order to push for a Rugby World Cup Sevens spot, although it was a bit sooner than expected, he is keen to be back.
“I was actually on my way to church on Sunday when the call came, so that was a good sign for me,” Davids smiled.
IOL Sport