Treu to name Commonwealth Games squad on 16 August

Springbok Sevens coach, Paul Treu, will name his Commonwealth Games squad of 12 players on 16 August.

The Sevens Rugby event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games takes place on 11-12 October in Delhi, India and Treu hopes to select a competitive squad that will be able to challenge the likes of New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa and Australia for the gold medal.

New Zealand have won all three Rugby Sevens gold medals on offer so far - in 1998 (Kuala Lumpur), 2002 (Manchester) and 2006 (Melbourne). 2002 bronze medalists South Africa head Pool B and face three challenging opening ties against reigning Rugby World Cup Sevens champions Wales, Tonga and the host nation, India.

A group of newcomers joined the core group of contracted players on Monday when the SA Sevens squad started with pre-season training, kicking off with medical testing at the Sports Science Institute Building in Newlands.

The players will spend much of their time together focussing on their fitness and conditioning before they commence with on-field training in August. "Early indications are that the guys, including the new faces, are in good shape. We will continue to test some new players on 1 August," said Treu.

Stalwarts Renfred Dazel and Paul Delport are fit again after suffering long-term injuries last year, while Steven Hunt will hopefully be back to full fitness in time for the Dubai and George tournaments in December.