Donavan Don enjoyed a breakout season for the Blitzboks in their last campaign, after making his debut in 2023.
Rising Sevens star Donavan Don is eager to return to the Blitzboks and enjoy another top season with the national Sevens side, once the Currie Cup season comes to an end next month.
Don is currently on loan to the Boland Cavaliers from the Blitzboks, and has been in stunning form for them, scoring seven tries in four matches to top the competition try scoring list after five rounds.
Despite his top form on his return to the 15s game for the first time in four years, after last playing for the Griffons in the Currie Cup First Division as a 19-year-old, he is keen to return to the shorter format after the competition.
“I am really looking forward to getting back into the Sevens mix. I am enjoying my time playing 15s, and it is going to be tough transitioning back into the Sevens game, but I am excited for the new season,” said Don.
“It will bring new opportunities, there will be some new faces, and a new challenge. They have already started (in pre-season), so I need to be ready to get straight back into it once the Currie Cup is over.”
Don is one of a number of Blitzboks stars who chose to play Currie Cup rugby during the Sevens off season this year, including his teammate at the Cavaliers, David Brits, while at Western Province players like Zain Davids, Shilton van Wyk and Tristan Leyds have also featured prominently.
Great opportunity
“Personally for me it was a great opportunity to keep myself active and keep evolving my game. We only get about two months off (between Sevens seasons), and I didn’t want to just lie around at home not doing anything,” explained Don.
“So I thought playing 15s would keep me match fit and would give me an opportunity to build some confidence in the Currie Cup to take onto the Sevens circuit when the season gets underway at the end of the year.”
Last season the Blitzboks enjoyed a strong campaign, one of their best in a number of years, with them winning their home leg in Cape Town, finishing fourth on the log, and then winning the series-ending Grand Finale in Los Angeles.
Don said that they wanted to do even better this year, and key to that was to become even more consistent.
“We want to build on the good work we did last season. We want to continue our consistent form and try to get better. It isn’t going to be easy, there are some very good teams and we can’t underestimate anyone,” said Don.
“So we have to focus on ourselves, keep improving and be as consistent as we can be, while winning as many tournaments as we can.”
