Vodacom Stormers’ Aplon in SA Sevens squad

Aplon was a regular member of the Stormers squad until two matches ago. He has featured in the national Sevens squad previously, while Christians has been selected as one of the players who are on standby.

And in a further boost to coach Paul Treu’s squad development of his squad, former SA Sevens player of the year, Stefan Basson, has been placed on standby, after returning from club commitments in Italy.

Other good news is that the injury ankle suffered by Jonathan Mokuena has responded very well to treatment. He has started with light training again and should regain full fitness in time to travel with the team for their warm-up tournament in Amsterdam before the London Sevens.

South Africa are currently ranked in second place on the Series log behind runaway-leaders New Zealand. The team appeared in the last three Cup Finals, with their title-winning performance in Adelaide bringing an end to New Zealand’s record-breaking unbeaten run of 47 matches and seven consecutive tournament titles.

The Boks will play a training match against the Western Province Rugby Institute on Friday at Stellenbosch (11am).

The squad departs for Europe on May 13.

Squad:

Frankie Horne, Fabian Juries, Mpho Mbiyozo, MJ Mentz, Neil Powell (captain), Marius Schoeman, Schalk Van Der Merwe, Vuyo Zangqa (SA Rugby contracted Sevens players), Danwel Demas (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Kabamba Floors, Jonathan Mokuena (Vodacom Cheetahs), Gio Aplon (Vodacom Stormers).

On standby:

Stefan Basson (Italy), Marvin Christians (Vodacom Western Province), Earl Lewis (Boland), Norman Nelson (SA Rugby).

Management:

Paul Treu Coach
Sebastian Prim Manager/performance analyst
Allan Temple-Jones Trainer
Hugh Everson Physiotherapist