Preparations in full swing for Rugby 7s tourney

Preparations are in full swing for the Safland Windhoek Sevens rugby tournament scheduled for later this month with international teams viewing the tournament as an important event to launch their 2015-2016 campaign.

The South African Rugby Union Sevens Academy as well as Zimbabwe, Botswana, Poland, the Bulls and Northern Stars have confirmed their participation in the tournament that will be held on 25 and 26 September in Windhoek.
The hosts Namibia will also field a Namibian Invitational team to allow more local players exposure to high level sevens, while the South Africans will be taking part under the banner of the SARU Sevens Academy.
Neil Powell, the Springbok Sevens coach, said his combination was looking forward to kick-start their serious on-field preparations in Windhoek at the Safland Windhoek Sevens tournament.
“The SAFLAND Windhoek Sevens is the ideal opportunity to assist the Springbok Sevens training group with their preparations for the upcoming HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series. Our training group have been together for a while now, working very hard on their fitness and conditioning at our base in Stellenbosch. This group is a mixture of experienced players who have played a lot of World Series events, as well as exciting youngsters form our very successful SA Sevens Academy,” he added.
The new look World Series which now includes ten tournaments as opposed to the nine of previous years and kicks-off in December with the Emirates Dubai Sevens followed by the South African leg of the series in Cape Town.
“This coming year will be the most important season for international Sevens, because the teams will be competing in an expanded World Series which now consists of ten tournaments worldwide and then there is the climax of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil,” said Powell.
“We are looking forward to the season with great excitement and we want to use the Safland Windhoek 7s as a springboard to launch our preparations for what promises to be a great but demanding year of international Sevens rugby.
“We are delighted for the invitation and the opportunity to play in Windhoek and we hope that people will enjoy us in action,” said Powell.
Tournament organiser Willem Strauss said they are putting together an action packed weekend which will offer a lot of excitement and colour for fans.
“ We want to creative a festive atmosphere and will hold a Miss Safland pageant and a fancy dress competition. All the teams have committed to interact with the fans and we can promise sevens fans that they are in for an exciting and fun filled weekend,” said Strauss.