Blitzboks players reveal daily stress of Covid testing at Tokyo Olympics

Two South African Sevens players in Tokyo have spoken about the daily stress of undergoing Covid testing – and the nervous wait to get the results.

The Blitzboks are currently in Kagoshima, a one-hour flight south of Tokyo, ahead of the start of the Sevens competition at the Olympic Games next week.

The team is training without head coach Neil Powell in their presence, following his positive Covid test last week, which has forced him into 14 days of quarantine and ruled him “out” of attending the Games. He will coach the side virtually in the coming days.

Players Chris Dry and Selvyn Davids have now both spoken about life in Japan in a time of Covid.

‘Wait and hope’

The Blitzboks start each day on a nervous note with Covid tests in the mornings – as has been the case for the last two weeks – and only venture onto the training pitch when they get the thumbs up.

Davids said that while everyone is now used to the tests, it remained an uncomfortable experience.

“They don’t take any prisoners here,” Davids chuckled.

“We had tests every day for a week before our departure and every day since our arrival as well. Then you wait and hope.

“That also creates a bit of nerves because you never know what the result will be. But the relief when the news comes that it is all good and you know the next action will be on the training field, everything is forgotten.”

‘Not fun’

For Chris Dry, the Blitzboks’ most experienced forward, the Olympic experience remains a distant one for now. He travelled to Rio in 2016 as back-up player but was never called on in the squad. This time around, however, he can almost touch it, which excites him.

“I would not say I am feeling like an Olympian yet, but there is definitely something in the air,” said Dry.

“A couple of days ago it felt a bit unreal when our issues started, but that is forgotten now. We have seen the action on TV, so we know it is real. For us, that was good to see, almost as good as it was to get onto the field again after a week of uncertainty and upheaval.

“Luckily, from a team perspective, we decided that we will make every second count and turn every experience in a positive one. So, we could manage a bad situation because of our positive mindset.

“The testing every morning is not fun and the wait is even worse, but hopefully everything is under control now.”