Kok feels 15s stars will boost South Africa’s Olympic gold prospect

Matt Jones - Editor 23:51 06/12/2015
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  • Accommodating: Werner Kok.

    South Africa rugby sevens star Werner Kok hopes to have former Springbok internationals Francois Hougaard and Juan de Jongh alongside him when the Blitzbokke target a raid on the Olympic Games in Rio next year.

    Kok praised the impact the duo had on Neil Powell’s team as they made their first appearances for the rainbow nation at the Dubai Rugby Sevens at the weekend.

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    With several countries either flirting or marching ahead with plans to integrate some of their finest 15s players into the shortened format of the game to bolster their Olympic chances, you could perhaps forgive the contracted sevens players for feeling slightly aggrieved.

    But that is not the case for Kok, who is happy for the Blitzbokke to explore any possible avenues to achieve success in Rio next year.

    “They are great rugby players and they’ve got great rugby brains, they slot in very well,” said 22-year-old Kok, the 2015 World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year, of Hougaard and De Jongh.

    “They played two amazing games and I’m glad they got their starts and hopefully they are in contention for the Olympics.”

    “They are great rugby players and they’ve got great rugby brains” – Werner Kok

    Versatile back Hougaard is a veteran of 35 Springbok caps and represented South Africa at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, while Stormers centre De Jongh has played in 14 Tests for his country.

    The Blitzbokke were unable to defend the Dubai title they had won in 2014 as they were upset by the USA in the opening round of the 2015-16 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, beaten 21-19 in the quarter-finals of the Cup competition at The Sevens Stadium on Saturday.

    Kok, however, is predicting an interesting season ahead and is looking forward to challenging for a gold medal as sevens makes its Olympic debut in eight months’ time.

    “We’re definitely excited. Rio is a great thing to work to, the Olympic Games is the biggest sporting event in the world and I think every single rugby player wants to go there for the sevens,” he said.

    “The season is going to be very interesting, it’s going to be a very hard season to get up to par and to produce the goods for the Olympics.”

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