It will be a homecoming of note for new Springbok Sevens back Nabo Sokoyi when the HSBC SVNS Cape Town kicks off at DHL Stadium on Saturday.
The uncapped Blitzbok finally arrived home, where his roots and heart have been all along, after travelling to play rugby in the Netherlands, England, USA, Russia and France.
The 24-year-old Sokoyi was born in Upington and schooled in Bloemfontein before he signed contracts to play rugby in Pretoria and Stellenbosch, but his nomadic career has now reached a final destination.
Sokoyi was part of the Blitzboks’ academy system at their Stellenbosch Academy of Sports base when, a few years ago, he was told that his contract will not be extended.
A lifeline in the form of the semi-professional sevens leagues in England and France eased that hurt and Sokoyi packed his backs for a journey he never anticipated.
“I was in Netherlands for a weekend where we played in a tournament, then England for a month, and five months in the USA with the Rhinos playing 10s with former Blitzboks captain Frankie Horne,” he said.
“Then former Blitzbok assistant coach Vuyo Zangqa asked me to join him in Russia for six weeks, I had a quick trip back home, then back to England and over to France, where I played for the Monaco Sevens team in the French sevens league.
More recently, his progress was followed by current Springbok Sevens head coach Philip Snyman, who recalled Sokoyi to join the wider training squad in Stellenbosch.
So it was back to South Africa and last week, he was on the plane to Dubai, where he was a standout for the Shogun team in the International Invitational tournament.
This weekend though, at the second leg of HSBC SVNS, Sokoyi is in line to make that much prayed for debut as a Blitzbok.
“All those trips suddenly made sense and today, when I got my jersey, a massive relief come over me,” he said.
“The reality is kicking in and it is a wonderful emotion to experience. At the captain’s training session, I was handed my official training jersey, which is the team’s code of acceptance to new players and my heart was so full.
“Also, to receive the jersey from Selvyn (Davids) was very emotional, as he has been a mentor to me over the last couple of years. We were injured at the same time and doing a lot of rehabilitation together at SAS.
“One day he just told me that I need to understand what I can achieve when I put my mind to doing the rights things. Even when I was abroad, I could contact him for advice, so I owe a lot of this to him.”
On the plus side of being a rugby wanderer is getting to know players from various countries and a number of potential opponents this weekend, played at the same tournaments he did, Sokoyi said.
“Most of the guys in Great Britain’s team played with me in tournaments in Scotland and England and obviously a number of French guys and two players from Argentina that played in the French league – in a way, I feel at home,” Sokoyo smiled.
The Blitzboks face Fiji, New Zealand and Great Britain in Pool A on Saturday and Sokoyi will be hoping to get onto the field as soon as possible: “We prepared well over the last couple of months in Stellenbosch and the guys were not happy with what happened in Dubai last weekend, so is determined to get it right this time around. The guys also want to defend the title won last year.”
BLITZBOK POOL SCHEDULE – SATURDAY, 6 DECEMBER:
12:44pm: Fiji
4pm: New Zealand
7:49pm: Great Britain
All matches live on SuperSport