Stedman Gans commits future to 15-man game

Blitzbok and Bulls star Stedman Gans has decided to commit his rugby future to the 15-man code as he continues to chase his Springbok dream.

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Part of the Blitzboks’ Olympic side, Gans has now decided to shift his focus solely on to the 15-man game. He finished as the leading try-scorer in Super Rugby Unlocked and will be looking to recapture that form after a year disrupted by injuries.

Bulls director of rugby Jake White allowed Gans to pursue his Olympic dream, but now that the star centre has returned, Gans has made clear he’s fully committed to the Bulls.

Gans has since laid out his future plans.

“My immediate future plan is to focus solely on the Bulls now. I’m definitely finished with sevens for now. It’s actually the conversation we had beforehand and that’s where we are now.”

The Blitzboks side only made it as far as the quarter-finals in the Olympics before crashing out against Argentina in an uncharacteristically sloppy fashion.

Although the loss was a disappointment, for Gans simply having the opportunity to travel to Tokyo was an honour in itself.

“It was still a massive privilege to take part in the Olympics. It was difficult at times as everyone were probably aware of,” said Gans. “We really gave it our all, but we couldn’t reach our objectives.”

Gans will be in good company at the Bulls along with other sevens converts Cornal Hendricks and Kurt-Lee Arendse. Asked whether it was difficult to switch between the two codes, Gans was clear that he was starting to get back into the swing of things.

“The two codes differ fundamentally, especially in terms of the preparation and conditioning.

“It takes a game or two to get back into the groove, but I believe it gets easier every time. For now, I won’t have to do that again anytime soon.”