Speedster Davids ready to go full throttle
Angelo Davids is back to full speed for the DHL Stormers and excited to test his pace at DHL Stadium on Saturday.
Davids came flying out of the blocks this season, scoring four tries in 13 appearances across the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and Heineken Champions Cup, before injury pumped the brakes on an impressive run in January.
The 23-year-old returns this week, and is primed to make an impact as part of a potent back three with Seabelo Senatla and Clayton Blommetjies.
“I’m obviously excited to be playing the game I love again after my injury,” Davids said.
“I need to play my game and focus on what the coaches expect from me, and also not put too much pressure on myself. I just want to be myself and enjoy my time out there, that’s my main focus.”
The Vodacom URC South African Shield will come into particular focus this weekend – the DHL Stormers are unbeaten at home in the 2022/23 campaign and chasing a clean sweep of SA rivals, having won all five derbies this season.
“It does add a little bit of spice to the match on Saturday, trying to stay unbeaten in SA, but that’s not our focus; our focus is to go out there and do our job, and that’s by finishing when we need to finish and look after each other,” said Davids, buoyed by the positive energy in the squad.
“There’s definitely a lot of confidence in the squad, and I’m not just talking about the Vodacom URC, but also the Currie Cup squad. It’s a good thing for us to go out as a squad and enjoy ourselves and do what we do best.”
Davids is looking forward to linking up with fellow former sevens speedster Senatla, who scored a try and set up another in his first game back from injury, in a bonus-point win over the Cell C Sharks three weeks ago.
“It’s really great to have Seabelo back, and he’s back firing. It’s never nice when one of your teammates gets injured. His knowledge and experience in a game helps me immensely.”
Davids recently beat USA Sevens ace Carlin Isles in a fun World Rugby challenge to determine rugby’s fastest player, and he will potentially face another speed king, Cape-born flyer Thaakir Abrahams, at the DHL Stadium on Saturday.
“Thaakir and I actually know each other really well,” he said. “He is really quick, and obviously a good stepper as well, so he has a bit of everything.
“But I’m not too focused on him, and rather on what I need to do as Angelo Davids and how I can contribute to helping the team win. We’ll see on Saturday what goes for what,” he added.
