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Paul Treu has named a strong squad SA Vipers squad for Arentina’s Mar del Plata tournament on 5-7 January.
Following South Africa’s disappointing start to the defense of their IRB Sevens World Series crown, Treu is using the event as an important warm-up ahead of the next set of legs in Wellington (5-6 Feb) and Las Vegas (13-14 Feb).

Injury plagued Renfred Dazel, who missed the first two IRB Sevens World Series tournaments in Dubai and George due to knee surgery, was included in the 12-man squad and is set to make a welcome return to action. Ryno Benjamin who was suspended from the squad for George for disciplinary reasons is also included.

The Springbok Sevens coach also announced his national training squad which will assemble in early January at their base camp in Stellenbosch.

A noticeable name missing from the squad is captain, Paul Delport, who is ruled out for ten weeks because of an ankle injury. Former SA captain Neil Powell is recovering from a shoulder injury and was therefore not included in the SA Vipers team.

Treu and the SA Vipers team depart to Argentina on January 3, while the rest of training squad will begin their preparations the following day under the guidance of conditioning coach, Allan Temple-Jones.

The beginning of the year marks an always busy time in South American Sevens with Mar del Plata and the Punta del Este (2-3 Feb) always attracting top international sides. Mar del Plata has a rich heritage of hosting the Rugby, staging World Series events and the RWC Sevens in 2001.

The festival also incorporates the South American Championships seeing CONSUR member countries such as Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru all attending.

The SA Vipers team to Mar del Plata:
Chris Dry, Jonathan Adendorf, Hoffman Maritz, Ryno Benjamin, Phillip van der Walt, Branco du Preez, Renfred Dazel, Cecil Africa, Shaun Venter, MJ Mentz, Steven Hunt, Deon Helberg.

The SA training squad is (contracted unless indicated):
Jonathan Adendorf, Kyle Brown, Frankie Horne, Cecil Africa, Shaun Venter, Ryno Benjamin, MJ Mentz, Marius Schoeman, Chris Dry, Mpho Mbiyozo, Branco du Preez (Blue Bulls U19), Mzwandile Stick, JW Jonker, Deon Helberg (Blue Bulls U21), Chase Minnaar, Bryan Shabangu (Sharks), Hoffman Maritz (Cheetahs U21), Renfred Dazel, Phillip van der Walt (Cheetahs U21), Steven Hunt (WP U21).