Cecil Afrika has overcome an injury to be included in the 13-man Blitzboks squad for the next two tournaments of the World Rugby Sevens Series.

The Las Vegas Sevens will be played in the Sam Boyd Stadium from 3-5 March, while Vancouver will host the Canada Sevens on 11-12 March.

Afrika, who is the Springbok Sevens all-time leading points scorer, missed the Australasian leg of the World Series due to a knee strain.

The inclusion of Afrika is one of two changes to the squad that played in Australasia, with Stephan Dippenaar the other. They replace Seabelo Senatla and Kwagga Smith, who have both rejoined their Super Rugby franchises.

Dippenaar was a late replacement in Sydney for Werner Kok, who has also recovered from the calf strain picked up there. He will now travel to Las Vegas.

'We knew that the time would come for us to play without Seabelo and Kwagga, and that time is now,' Blitzboks coach Neil Powell commented.

'The fact that we have two proven players to slot in, is indeed a bonus. Cecil has scored over a 1000 points in the series and Stephan has been part of squads that won the Las Vegas tournament in the past, so I am pretty pleased.'

Powell added debutant Stedman Gans to his squad, with the former Junior Springbok and SA Schools back travelling as the 13th player or official reserve, as per the World Rugby agreement.

Photo: Roger Sedres/Gallo Images