Blitzboks take News24 Sevens title as Ngcobo puts his charges through paces for SVNS Series

Blitzboks coach Sandile Ngcobo was pleased with his side's performance in the inaugural News24 Forward Faster Invitational Sevens tournament in Stellenbosch this past weekend, as they used the event as part of their preparations for the 2023 season.

The News24 Forward Faster Sevens event took place on Saturday and Sunday at the Paul Roos Markötter Sports Grounds, where a boisterous crowd dressed in green and gold came out to add to a wonderful atmosphere.

The Blitzboks proved too strong for the competition as they took the title after beating Chris Dry's Stellenbosch Academy of Sport (SAS) Sevens 38-7 in the final.

WATCH | Blitzboks in action at News24 Forward Faster Invitational Sevens Series

Twelve teams took part in the tournament that has shown promise of becoming an annual event.

Ngcobo was impressed by a number of club players who took part in the event and was particularly pleased with getting game time for his wider squad of players ahead of this year's HSBC SVNS Series, which starts in Dubai in December.

"Tournaments like these are essential and I can't say thank you enough to Le Roux Conradie from the Forward Foundation, as well as News24 and the other generous sponsors and partners," said Ngcobo.

"This is valuable for our preparation and, from previous tournaments such as these, we had two guys that graduated from the Academy to the SA A Sevens teams. One of them was Ricky Duarrtee. Now one year later he is playing regularly.

"It is quite an important tournament, and we don't have a lot of local sevens tournaments, so that is what makes these ones so important, to not only test us but identify talent."

The Springbok Sevens side are still looking to qualify for next year's Paris Olympics after missing out on