Dubai: South Africa's hopes of success in this week's Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens have been hit with the news that playmaker Fabian Juries has remained at home with his family.
The man with 114 IRB World Series tries to his name was about to board a flight to the emirate on Monday when he received an emergency telephone call.
Coach Paul Treu said: "Fabian's wife gave birth prematurely a while ago and the baby is fine, but now his wife is back in hospital. It is far more important for Fabian to be with his wife at this time."
Juries was forced to sit out of last year's Dubai tournament after twisting an ankle in training, less than 48 hours before South Africa's first game.
Treu added: "It's a huge blow for us as Fabian is our playmaker and also our leading try scorer But the good news is that we hope he will be able to join up with the squad next week for the tournament in George."
Juries is second on the list of all-time IRB World Series try scorers, seven less than Argentina's Santiago Gomez Cora who, ironically, is also missing from the Dubai event because of injury.
The final place in South Africa's squad went to Jandre Blom, a scrum-half from Bloemfontein, who plays for Cheetahs under-21s.
"He was going to play in Dubai for Christina Nobel but we have managed to draft him in," said Treu.
South Africa, semifinalists last year before horrendous injury problems hit home, rounded off their preparations for the Dubai tournament with a practice match yesterday at English College against the Arabian Gulf.
Captain Adrian Kerr said: "It was a good chance to work on a few things, and the guys new to the team now have a much better idea of what playing at this level is all about."
