Bulls to unleash new blood

The Blue Bulls have assembled a host of fresh faces for the Sevens Premier League in George this weekend.

The Pretoria side that will travel down to the Garden Route this week includes a host of junior stars and new recruits and could surprise a few teams with more established stars.

With numerous world stars in the game, like Fabian Juries, Ben Gollings, Zar Lawrence and Stefan Basson on show, the relatively inexperienced Bulls outfit will have something to prove.

According to the Blue Bulls Company’s High Performance Manager, Xander Janse van Rensburg, there was a deliberate decision to use the younger stars in the wider Super Rugby training group.

"Coach Frans Ludeke, had a one on one with all these players and made it very clear that this is an early opportunity for them to show what they are made of. We looked at the tournament and decided it will fit perfectly with our High Performance plan, as it will expose these new recruits to top class competition very early on. We will be watching their progress very keenly," Janse van Rensburg said.

"It is fair to say that they represent the next generation of Blue Bulls players and we are therefore quite excited to see how they shape up. Who knows where a good performance in George could lead them in their Blue Bulls careers," he added.

Althpough they may not have the most experience, the Bulls will certainly not be short on talent, with a number of young stars in their ranks.

Travis Ismaiel and Shaun Adendorff both played for the Junior Springboks in their capturing of the IRB Junior World Championship earlier this year, with the latter also being named as one of the top three players of the tournament.

Clayton Blommetjies has already represented the Springboks Sevens team in 2012 and will be keen to show national coach Paul Treu that he still has something to offer.

Powerful midfielder Rohan Janse van Rensburg was immense for the Blue Bulls at Craven Week and also proved a star for South Africa Under-18 in their series against France, Wales and England, while Daniel and Jesse Kriel has been included in the provisional Under-20 Junior Springboks training group.

The team will be coached by former national Sevens star Fielies Coetzee.

Blue Bulls squad: Clayton Blommetjies, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Daniel Kriel, Jesse Kriel, Andre Warner, Jacques Rossouw, Jason Kriel, Christiaan de Bruin, Corne Cooper, Roelof Smit, Jaco Hayward, Travis Ismaiel, Shaun Adendorf.