Cape Town - The Springbok Sevens squad will play two pre-season tournaments as they prepare for a historic campaign which includes a bigger, revamped World Rugby Sevens Series and the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.
The South Africans will contest the 2015 SAFLand Sevens taking place on September 25 and 26 in Windhoek, Namibia, before travelling to Singapore a month later to participate in the 68th edition of the hugely popular Singapore Cricket Club Sevens event.
The Blitzboks have assembled at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport (SAS) to start their pre-season training programme following their end-of-season break.
The 2015/16 Sevens World Rugby Sevens Series kicks off on December 4 and 5 in Dubai and the series champions will be crowned after the conclusion of Round 10 at Twickenham (May 20-22).
Neil Powell, the Springbok Sevens coach, emphasised the significance of the forthcoming season.
“The new season will be the most important sevens season yet. The prospects of an Olympic gold medal in Rio and success in the revamped World Series are two massive incentives for all the teams. We have been working very hard to finalise our preparation plans in order to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves,” added Powell.
Key dates for the Blitzboks in the 2015/16 season:
Sunday, 9 August 2015
One year countdown to the 2016 Rio Olympic games
Thursday 24 - Saturday 26 September 2015
SAFLand Sevens tournament in Windhoek, Namibia
31 October - 1 November 2015
Singapore Cricket Club Sevens tournament
Friday 4 December - Saturday 5 December 2015
Start of the World Rugby Sevens Series in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tuesday 9 August - Thursday 11 August 2016
Rugby Sevens programme at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil