Habana released to join Blitzbokke

Habana will be available for selection for the next two rounds of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, in the USA and Canada. The popular Las Vegas tournament takes place from 4 to 6 March and will be followed by the inaugural event in Vancouver on 12 and 13 March.

The 2007 Rugby World Cup winner and most prolific South African Test try scorer made his only two Springbok Sevens appearances in 2004, in Wellington and Los Angeles, a couple of months before his Springbok Test debut.

Neil Powell, the Springbok Sevens coach, described Habana’s availability for the next two rounds of the World Series as a fantastic development for his squad.

“Bryan is an unbelievable rugby player and his outstanding playing record and achievements in the Springbok jersey speaks for itself,” said Powell. “I am really excited by the prospects of him joining our training squad.”

According to Powell, Habana will add something special to his already powerful squad. “Bryan is one of those players that always has a lot of energy. Apart from that, he brings with him a lot of experience of playing rugby at the very top level, so in that sense his presence in the squad will also be a great motivational factor for our guys,” added Powell.

“I can tell you Bryan is very eager to learn. He realises that it’s been a very long time since he last played Sevens, but he is excited by this challenge and really looking forward to be part of our system.”

Meantime, Powell’s squad was further boosted by the return to action of four experienced players. Kyle Brown, Branco du Preez, Cecil Africa and Justin Geduld have all returned to full training after recovering from their respective injuries.

Powell will name his 12-man squad this coming Thursday for the two-week trip to North America. The squad will fly out to Las Vegas on Friday evening. 

Jacasport/SA Rugby