Ruhan Nel has been called up to replace the injured Stephan Dippenaar in the Blitzboks squad ahead of this weekend's Tokyo Sevens tournament.

Dippenaar returns home after he failed to recover in time from a hamstring injury he picked up at the Hong Kong Sevens last weekend.

Nel is a young and promising member of the Springbok Sevens setup, and has already played in four World Series tournaments.

His inclusion is the second injury-enforced change from the squad that finished third in Hong Kong, after Carel du Preez was called up earlier this week to replace Philip Snyman.

The Blitzboks are just two clear of Hong Kong winners, Fiji, and three ahead of New Zealand heading into the seventh event of the nine leg World Series.

Photo: Karim Sahib/AFP Photo