Stephan Dippenaar, the former Vodacom Bulls centre, is set to make his Springbok Sevens debut in New Zealand after he was included in the squad of 14 players for the next two legs of the HSBC Sevens World Series.
The fourth round of the World Series takes place at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington on 3-4 February ahead of the USA Sevens in Las Vegas, which South Africa won in 2011, a week later.
Paul Treu's side currently sit third in the standings, three points behind joint leaders Fiji and New Zealand, following a heart-breaking Cup final defeat to the reigning World Series champions in Port Elizabeth, and will be striving to maintain their consistency during the next two tournaments.
“The new points system on offer as well as the additional ninth tournament really brought another dimension to the Series,” said Treu.
“There are no more easy pool matches because the teams want to secure a good seeding position for the next tournament, so we can expect two more very competitive tournaments in Wellington and Las Vegas."
Dippenaar signed a two year contract last year with the Springbok Sevens team and he will now get his chance to show his worth after he was included in the travelling party in the place of William Small-Smith, who is currently involved with the SA Under-20 training squad.
The former Vodacom Bulls player was a member of the newly-established SA Sevens Academy team that played in Uruguay last month, where he helped them to reach the final in Punta del Este.
“He [Stephen Dippenaar] has learnt a lot since his switch to Sevens last year and I would like to see how he handles the much tougher demands of the very competitive Series.
“Our previous Cup success in Wellington was ten years ago, so that will be a huge motivating factor for us. The New Zealand leg is always tough because of the great support for the Pacific Island teams, but we will embrace the challenge and hope to improve on our most recent performances in New Zealand."
South Africa have been pooled with England, USA and the Cook Islands in Pool B.
Springbok Sevens squad for Wellington and Las Vegas: Chris Dry, Chase Minnaar, Frankie Horne, Boom Prinsloo, Cornal Hendricks, Kyle Brown (captain), Branco du Preez, Bernado Botha, Paul Delport, Cecil Afrika, Steven Hunt, Mark Richards, Stephan Dippenaar, Renfred Dazel
