Lions stalking flier Seabelo Senatla

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Cape Town - While the Lions are stalking Seabelo Senatla, the Western Province Rugby Union are confident that they are going to keep the Sevens flier in the Mother City. Senatla’s contract with WP is coming to an end in the next couple of months, and director of rugby Gert Smal has been busy negotiating the terms of a new deal with the speedy winger. WP are apparently also talking to another Sevens star, Tim Agaba, who was recently still on the books of the Kings. The Lions are currently on a hunt for players, especially black players, after their run-on team towards the end of their Super Rugby campaign only featured three black players in the starting line-up. And it is believed they are trying to lure Senatla to Johannesburg. Senatla hasn’t featured a lot for the Stormers over the last few years, because of his Sevens commitments. He still has a contract with SA Rugby for the next two years, but may only play in selected tournaments in the build-up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which would allow him to play a lot more Super Rugby matches.

“We are confident we can keep him. We will announce everything soon, because we can’t say anything if we don’t have pen on paper. But the negotiations are at an advanced stage,” Smal told Independent Media on Tuesday.

“He is still contracted with SA Rugby and the Sevens. It’s up to the Sevens guys to decide how they are going to use him in the future.”

Senatla and fullback Cheslin Kolbe returned to WP’s Bellville training base on Tuesday for injury assessments after winning the bronze medal with the SA Sevens team at the Olympic Games in Rio.

Kolbe is believed to have a calf niggle, but could be back for Province soon. However, Senatla, could be out for the rest of the season after he fractured his right wrist in the quarter-final victory over Australia.

But this injury could be a blessing in terms of the Welkom-born star getting a rest after a couple of years of non-stop rugby.

“I reckon I might be out for around two months. It takes about six weeks for a fracture to heal properly. Then it takes two weeks to do rehab on it,” Senatla said.

“I would still love to play for Province in the Currie Cup, and maybe I can still play a part towards the end of the season. But I think the break is going to do me good rather than bad.”

Senatla was again the Blitzboks’ go-to man during Sevens in Rio, and he was sorely missed in their semi-final match against Great Britain, which South Africa lost 7-5.

Senatla, though, has no regrets and says the Sevens tournament was a hit in the soccer-mad country that is Brazil.

“It was something out of this world. The village, the athletes ... it was just great. The people of Rio also made it very special; they really contributed to the vibe. It was such an awesome experience for us,” he said.

Because Senatla didn’t finish the tournament, he didn’t get a bronze medal. Instead his replacement Francois Hougaard, who played in the semi-final and the bronze-medal match against Japan was handed the medal.

However, the Springbok scrumhalf decided to give the medal to Senatla, and left it in the speedster's room when he left early to report to the Springbok camp.

“Hougie, what a guy!” Senatla exclaimed.

Cape Argus