Kwagga, Hougie could set CT Sevens alight

And there are several players who are likely to impress in the second round of the Sevens Series.

Hougaard had an indifferent performance on his sevens debut in Dubai, but finished the weekend with an incredible try in sudden death extra time to help his side to the Plate victory over Australia.

Minutes on the pitch will be crucial for Hougaard this weekend and his experience of big crowds, playing on home soil and another week of training with the sevens side could see him come into his own this weekend.

Smith stole the show at the South Africa Sevens in 2014 with some incredible performances that helped his side to the Cup title. A little quiet in Dubai, but with 35 tries in 16 appearances, he is not a player that you keep quiet for long.

With 110 000 fans expected over the two days at the Cape Town Stadium there will be plenty of entertaining sevens on display and there are many who could impress not only in Rio, but also this weekend.

These include England captain Tom Mitchell,who led the side to a second place finish in Dubai last weekend and was named in the dream team for the tournament based on his performance.

Free from injury, Mitchell is the fulcrum of Simon Amor’s side and the catalyst for all their excellent attacking moves, and is not far off lifting a second Cup title as captain.

New Zealand’s DJ Forbes is set to appear in his 76th tournament, he has more than 50 caps more experience than their second most-experienced player in Sam Dickson but with a fourth place finish last weekend and some fresh legs, they could yet continue their dominance in South Africa which has seen them win seven of the last 10 South Africa Sevens tournaments.

From France, comes Virimi Vakatawa, DHL’s impact player of Dubai. He will be looking to pick up where he left off this weekend. Ten tackles, five line breaks,19 carries and seven offloads were just a few of the things Vakatawa did as France lost just one match, to New Zealand, all weekend as they missed out on the quarterfinals on points difference.

A chance to face New Zealand in pool play for a second week in a row, Vakatawa and France will be expecting to reach the Cup quarterfinals at the very least and have history in South Africa having made the final in 2013.

American winger Perry Baker, with 34 tries in 10 tournaments for Baker, including six in Dubai, is also keeping the world’s fastest rugby player Carlin Isles out of the side which should not be overlooked.

He looks more like a rugby player than every before having spent the off-season training under the tutelage of Mike Friday and Chris Brown which is seemingly paying off. Baker is firing at the moment, and teams will have to work out a plan to stop him.

Fijian Pio Tuwai is another match winner. There are not many words to describe Tuwai’s offloading, but he does it almost every time he gets the ball. The top offloader in Dubai, he was named in the dream team and dubbed ‘the best player I have ever coached’ by Ben Ryan.

A player that when he touches the ball, everyone expects something to happen and has been involved in some of the most memorable tries in recent years – whether it was Emosi Mulevoro’s in Dubai in 2014, or Jerry Tuwai’s in Hong Kong in 2015.

If he gets the ball, don’t blink or you’ll miss something extra special.

ANA