Having played in six World Series Sevens tournaments, Rosko Specman is no stranger to the Blitzbokke.
Having played in six World Series Sevens tournaments, Rosko Specman is no stranger to the Blitzbokke.
However, the Grahamstown-born former George Dickerson, Mary Waters and Kingswood pupil hasn’t forgotten his roots. Having been called up on Monday for Saturday and Sunday’s Cape Town Sevens, he will hope to showcase the skills he began learning in his childhood.
Once a talented Sharks winger in the 15-a-side game, Specman helped the Steval Pumas to victory over Western Province in this year’s Vodacom Cup final. However, he is now a full-time sevens player and can play at sweeper (equivalent to scrum-half) or fly-half. He views his January 2014 Blitzbokke debut in Las Vegas as the best moment of his career.
According to Specman, the most important thing that happened to him in Grahamstown was being given a scholarship by Kingswood for his 2008 post-matric year. “It was just amazing to come from a local [government]school to a private school and they treated me so well. I had an amazing season with [Kingswood’s first rugby team],” he stated.
Graham Carlson, Specman’s coach at Kingswood, remembers him as a well-rounded player and a humble man.
He says, “Rosko was a wonderful player to coach. Not only did he possess enormous innate talent, but he also had the drive and desire to train hard and learn new skills, patterns, strategies and ways of doing things".
The Blitzbokke had to settle for a plate victory at last weekend’s tournament in Dubai after losing their cup quarter-final against the USA 21-19. However, Specman, whose call-up came after injuries to Werner Kok and Cecil Afrika, is confident that they can bounce back.
“I think the vibe is cool. The guys are very excited and I think our home fans will give us all the support. If we can just feed off that energy, we will have a successful tournament,” said the 26-year-old.
Coach Neil Powell was quoted in a SARU media release as saying, “We realise there will always be pressure on any home team but we showed in Port Elizabeth, where we have won the previous two years, that we can handle the pressure,” thus echoing Speckman’s belief in this Blitzbokke squad.
* Grocott’s Sports Beat journalists, Leonard Solms and Nicholas McGregor will cover the Sevens tournament for Grocott’s Mail. Follow them on Grocott’s Twitter and the Grocotts Mail Sport Facebook page.
