New South African Sevens coach Neil Powell in action during his playing days

by Brendan Bradford –

Newly installed South African coach Neil Powell has named an experienced side ahead of the Gold Coast Sevens this weekend. South Africa face England, France and Spain in Group B in what will be the former BlitzBokke captain’s first tournament as head coach after taking over from Paul Treu who resigned in August.

Injuries have ruled out experienced scrumhalf Branco du Preez and winger Seabelo Senatla with Sampie Mastriet and Mark Richards joining the squad.

Veteran Frankie Horne will run out for his 51st consecutive Sevens Tournament

Twenty-three year old Mastriet turned out for South Africa at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in June and made a try-scoring Super Rugby debut for the Bulls against the Western Force in Round Three.

Frankie Horne, the most experienced South African Sevens player ever, will turn out for a record 51st consecutive tournament after recovering from shoulder surgery that ruled him out of the World Cup in Moscow. Horne injured the shoulder in the last round of the 2012/13 Series in London where he also became the only player in history to play 50 consecutive tournaments.

Powell, who was only announced as the new coach on Saturday will be assisted by former teammate Vuyo Zangqa. The pair were part of the South Africa squad which won the 2008/09 Sevens World Series.

“Following his retirement as an active player in 2012, we took Neil into our structures with a view to developing him as a coach of the future,” Saru CEO Jurie Roux said in a statement.

“Neil was a vastly experienced player and is very familiar with the HSBC Sevens World Series. They (Powell and Zangqa) make their debut in Australia next week and we’re looking forward to their contribution to the growth of our Sevens programme.”

Springbok Sevens squad: Chris Dry (28), Philip Snyman (15), Frankie Horne (50), Jamba Ulengo (6), Cornal Hendricks (16), Kyle Brown – captain (33), Sampie Mastriet (2), Stephan Dippenaar (14), Justin Geduld (4), Cecil Afrika (24), Mark Richards (7), Steven Hunt (19)