Cape Town - Patience will be the keyword for Justin Geduld as he makes his long-awaited return to the World Sevens Series in Toulouse this weekend.
Geduld (29) last played when the Blitzboks were on a roll and won six tournaments in a row. In that sixth win, he injured his knee ligaments and coupled with various setbacks, he hasn’t played since then.
That was 15 months ago in Seville, Spain.
But on Friday in Toulouse, he will be back on the field with the Springbok Sevens side hoping his experience can help the team clinch a first tournament win since Dubai in December last year.
Over the last seven Sevens tournaments, the Blitzboks bagged mixed results with only one final in Sydney. They lost that final, but performed way better than in the other ones.
In Toulouse, they have a tough pool with matches against hosts France (2:35pm kickoff) and Fiji (9:03pm) on Friday. They play the USA in their final pool match on Saturday (1:49pm).
The South Africans currently find themselves in seventh place on the standings and will have to finish among the top four nations as it will mean Olympic qualification. This weekend they will also chase a top-four finish.
Their season has been impacted by injuries to key players, including Geduld, bleeding new players and finding their feet under new coaches. It has been tough-going for the Blitzboks, but they are still confident of qualifying for the Paris Games.
Geduld, who played at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, has faith that the team can still produce over the next two weekends to secure qualification.
“I did not realise it until someone mentioned it, but everyone in our squad has won on the World Series and knows what it takes to win a tournament and in fact, a World Series,” Geduld said.
“Combine that with the knowledge that we really trained well in Stellenbosch during the last couple of weeks, and there is reason for optimism.”
The experienced playmaker, who has played over 50 tournaments and scored over 1000 points for South Africa, said the road to recovery was a lonely one.
But, he always worked towards getting back on the field again.
His, and the return of other playmakers like Ronald Brown and Dewald Human, will be a big boost to the SA team.
“At one stage I had a couple of chats with the medical staff as I was starting to compare the recovery calendar with that of the series. I thought that I will miss these two tournaments as well and only play again next season,” Geduld said.
"But credit to our team who got me ready. I am really excited and just so happy to be back.
"There were a lot of things I was looking forward to, even the flight to France as the one back from Seville was the last international flight I had. It feels like yesterday.
"The big focus is getting back onto the field and representing my country again. I am ready for this moment as I was waiting for it, patiently."
@Leighton_K
IOL Sport