Philip Snyman will lead the Blitzboks at the upcoming Las Vegas Sevens tournament.

Coach Neil Powell has been forced to name a vastly different squad from the one he selected for the tour of Australasia four weeks ago.

Snyman returns to the fold after recovering from a hamstring injury picked up at the Sydney Sevens, while Ruhan Nel is back in the squad as the reserve player following his knee injury.

Playmaker Justin Geduld (jaw) and speedster Rosko Specman (hamstring) have been ruled out through injury, while the likes of Seabelo Senatla, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Tim Agaba and Kwagga Smith have returned to their respective Super Rugby teams.

They have been replaced by Snyman, Nel, Muller du Plessis, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Selvyn Davids, Ryan Oosthuizen.

‘We were disrupted a bit with injuries in NZ, but players recovered and responded well in training,’ said Powell.

‘We are lucky in that we could plan for the absence of the 4 players who have returned to Super Rugby franchises before the Vegas trip, tapping into our squad depth,’ Powell explained.

‘Siviwe, Selvyn and Ryan have played for us before and I am excited about their expected contributions, while Muller has been part of our plans for a while now. We have a number of old hands on deck, but having some youthful energy is always a bonus.’

Blitzboks – Philip Snyman, Ryan Oosthuizen, Dylan Sage, Zain Davids, Werner Kok, Kyle Brown, Branco du Preez, Muller du Plessis, Selvyn Davids, Cecil Afrika, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Stedman Gans.
Reserve player: Ruhan Nel.

Photo: Petri Oeschger/Gallo Images