SA Women benefit from Fabian Juries input

The South African Women’s Sevens team will arrive in Dubai next month for the first IRB-sanctioned women’s tournament – the IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup – boosted by the input of former Springbok Sevens star Fabian Juries.

Juries, the third highest try-scorer in Sevens World Series history, was asked by women’s coach Denver Wannies to help out with skills drills and attacking strategies during a week-long training camp in Cape Town.

“Fabba has a huge amount of knowledge and experience gained from playing for so long on the World Series circuit. He gave the players some new insights and fresh ideas and I’m sure he enjoyed the involvement as much as the players,” said Wannies.

South Africa will be joined in the women’s tournament – which runs alongside the second leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series at 7he Sevens – by world champions Australia, Canada, England, Brazil, China, USA and Spain.

Wannies saw his side win the CAR Women’s Sevens southern zone title in Botswana last month and while he knows the level will be much higher against some of the world’s top nations in Dubai, the South Africans are excited by the challenge.

“There is an international strategic plan underway to arrange more international matches for women, especially in Sevens where there is so much potential to grow the game,” added Wannies.

“The Botswana tournament last month gave us a good platform to work from.  However, everyone is fully aware that we will be playing at a much more intense and higher level in Dubai.

“It is exactly what our players need because you can only learn and grow as a player when you play against some of the best players in the world.”