Playmaker Cecil Afrika could become the highest Blitz Boks points scorer in the history of the Sevens World Series when he plays in the Dubai Sevens, which kicks off tomorrow.
The Missionvale-born star, who has 901 points to his name, is hot on the heels of Fabian Juries, who is the current highest scorer with 925 points.
In 2011, Afrika won the IRB International Sevens player of the year award. He has been a prolific scorer since making his Blitz Boks debut in 2009.
The Blitz Boks ended fourth in the opening round of the series in Australia in October and captain Kyle Brown is eager to get back into the action after missing the Gold Coast event because of injury.
A serious shoulder injury sustained in the final of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July ruled Brown out of action for several months.
Coach Neil Powell described the fourth-place finish in the Gold Coast as unsatisfactory after errors cost the team on the second day's play.
Dubai has not delivered much success for the Springbok Sevens in recent years, but Brown is looking forward to playing at the desert venue.
"For us, the conditions are similar to Stellenbosch in summer. It is a great running pitch and hopefully it will assist us because we have fantastic runners in the team," Brown said.
Injuries have ruled out Justin Geduld and Stephan Dippenaar, but the return of the influential Brown and the addition of Cheslin Kolbe (Western Province) and Rayno Benjamin (Free State Cheetahs) will no doubt boost the South Africans' chances of success in Dubai.
The South Africa fixture list for tomorrow: 7am versus Portugal, 10am versus Canada, 2:08pm versus Wales.
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