Dubai : The pressure is always on when returning to a tournament as defending champions.
But last year's winners of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, South Africa, are determined to emulate the performance that saw them pipping England to post in the 2008 final, and then going on to claim their first ever overall IRB Sevens World Series title.
"We're putting in the hard yards at our base in Stellenbosch now. It will hopefully give us the edge that we need to be successful there again," said South African captain Mzwandile Stick.
"We know each other but because we have some new guys out there, we need this time together."
New Zealand have managed a run of four Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens victories, from 1999 to 2002, and England claimed back-to-back wins in 2004 and 2005 but although South Africa have three Dubai victories to their credit, they have never managed to claim the Cup in consecutive years.
Tough task
Stick is hoping that will change at this year's tournament from December 3 to 5, but knows it's going to be a tough task with several new faces in the side.
South African coach Paul Treu yesterday announced a national training squad which includes nine newcomers. Along with the contracted group, these players are attending a week long training camp in Stellenbosch.
Much is being said of new young recruit, Cecil Afrika who will be looking to make a name for himself in Dubai.
"There's always a bunch of new faces in Dubai and we never really know what to expect from other teams," reckoned Stick. "The off-season can be good for some sides, and bad for others. We know it will be difficult for us, especially now that sides like Scotland have started contracting Sevens players. The pools gets tougher."
South Africa have been drawn in the same pool as world champions Wales, the home side Arabian Gulf and Australia and will play their opening match of the tournament against the Welsh on Friday, December 4.
Stick believes that the old foes Fiji, New Zealand, England and Samoa will make up the main challenge in Dubai, but he isn't ruling out Kenya, Argentina and Portugal to cause a few upsets.
Before they get to Dubai, however, the Springbok Sevens side will play in the Middelburg Sevens in South Africa at the end of this month and then the Singapore Cricket Club Sevens, where they will also be aiming to defend their title.
Ticket outlets
Tickets for the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens are still on sale at The Sevens ground on Al Ain Road, Emirates headquarters, the Dnata Travel Centre on Shaikh Zayed Road and Costa and MMI outlets as well as online through www.dubairugby7s.com and by calling Ticketline on 8004669.
The Costa outlets where tickets are on sale are: Mall of the Emirates, Dubai Mall, Festival City and Al Wahda Mall, Abu Dhabi and the MMI outlets where they are available are: Al Wasl Road, Ibn Battuta, Mall of the Emirates and Sheikh Zayed Road.
The public is reminded that a valid alcohol licence is required to enter any MMI outlet.
