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Bok Sevens captain in doubt
12/11/2001 19:33 - (SA)
Durban - Captain of the South African Sevens rugby team Paul Treu will
have to undergo a fitness test later this week following a chest
injury he sustained during the Dubai Sevens over the weekend.
Treu and his team, as well as 12 other sevens rugby teams
arrived at the Durban International Airport on Monday afternoon for
the Durban leg of the International Rugby Board's World Sevens
Series from November 16 to 18.
A total of sixteen teams are expected to participate in the
event. Speaking to journalists shortly after his arrival, Treu said
he would have to pass a fitness test later in the week to determine
if he was fit to play in the tournament.
He injured his ribs during the semi-finals against Samoa and it
was still painful when he ran, he said.
But, he was confident that he would be able to play.
Treu said despite the trashing the team received from New
Zealand in the final match in Dubai,he was positive that the team
would be able to improve on its performance.
"We reached the finals and we at least achieved what we wanted
to achieve in Dubai."
New Zealand beat South Africa 45-7.
Treu took over the captaincy from Jacques Olivier who suffered
an injury earlier this year. He said the team's performance in
Durbai was "quite an achievement" taken the fact that there were six new players in
the team.
"Our goal for this tournament is first to at least end first in
our pool and from there we will just take it one game at a time.
"Our ultimate goal is to win this leg of the tournament.
Anything else would be an underachievement," Treu said.
Last year South Africa came fifth in the overall tournament, but
managed to win the Plate trophy.
New Zealand captain Eric Rush said while winning in Dubai did
not score any points for his team, it would give his fairly junior
team a psychological edge for Durban and for the next leg of the
tournament.
Fiji captain Sailosi Naiteqe said there were only two senior
players in his team, while Australian captain Peter Miller added
that he too was entering the tournament with a junior team.
The tournament marks the beginning of the 2001/2002 World Sevens
Series that will see similar events happening in Uruguay,
Argentina, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, England and
Wales over the next seven months.
New Zealand, who won last year's tournament, will open on the
first day of play with a match against Georgia.
South Africa will play its first match against Kenya later on
the same day. The teams will play for four trophies - the Bowl,
the Shield, the Plate and the Cup. The first day of play will see
the various pools battling it out in a Round Robin, before the finals on the
Sunday.
Eleven countries across the world tendered to host the event,
which is being sponsored by the Emirates Airlines.
Dubai was supposed to be the first leg of the tournament, but
because of the situation in nearby Afghanistan, some of the teams
expressed reservations about competing in Dubai because of safety
reasons. A number of them threatened to withdraw and the IRB
reconsidered its decision and decided that Durban would host the first leg.
The first match will start at 11am on Saturday until 9pm at the
Absa stadium. The second day's play will start at 11am until 7pm.
The squads for the tournament have been divided into four pools.
Pool A: New Zealand (defending champions); England; Georgia and
the Arabian Gulf
Pool B: Australia, Wales, France and Namibia
Pool C: Fiji, Argentina, Scotland and Morocco
Pool D: South Africa, Samoa, Portugal and Kenya.
The South African team: Ashwin Willemse, Helgard Brink, Thobela Mdaka, Fabian Juries, Jean de Villiers, Jan-Harm van Wyk, Jorrie
Muller, Egan Seconds, Gerrie Britz, Dale Heidtman and Anton Pitout.
The team is coached by Chester Williams.
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