The South African Sevens rugby side have turned to video conferencing in their bid to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo as Neil Powell takes on the role of virtual coach to lead the squad from his isolation room in Kagoshima. Team South Africa have been hit by four infections, one in the Sevens rugby side and three within the soccer team competing at the Games. Sevens head coach Powell has tested positive for Covid-19 and must isolate for 14 days, meaning he will not be on the sidelines when one of the pre-tournament favourites go for gold from July 26-28. But he will continue to help the side he has coached since 2013 in their preparations this week, albeit through a computer screen, and will liaise with assistant coach Renfred Dazel on match-day. South Africa won a bronze medal under Powell at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and they will be among the favourites again.

Source: The Herald July 19, 2021 04:52 UTC