The Blitzboks have left out many big guns for next week's Hong Kong Sevens tournament after deciding to make the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Australia their biggest priority.
Dewald Human will captain a young Springbok Sevens squad -- containing five uncapped players -- for the Hong Kong Sevens.
Human is one of six players who were part of the Blitzboks squad that won the World Rugby Sevens Series in the 2016/17 season who will travel east on Saturday, while Heino Bezuidenhout, Mosolwa Mafuma, James Murphy, Rhyno Smith and Mfundo Ndhlovu will all make their Springbok Sevens debuts in Hong Kong.
Ryan Oosthuizen, Zain Davids, Marco Labuschagne, Selvyn Davids, Muller du Plessis and Stedman Gans all played in Vancouver earlier this month, where South Africa claimed the bronze medal at the Canada Sevens, the sixth tournament in the series of ten. Human last played for the Blitzboks in London in 2017.
All the debutants are contracted with the SA Rugby Sevens Academy and have progressed through the sevens structures.
"We certainly have a good mix of potential and experience in the squad and I have believe we will be competitive in Hong Kong," said interim coach, Marius Schoeman.
Regular Blitzbok coach Neil Powell and a number of first-choice players will remain in Stellenbosch for the next 10 days as they prepare for the Commonwealth Games. Oosthuizen, Selvyn Davids and Zain Davids will join that squad in Australia after the Hong Kong Sevens.
For Schoeman, who debuted in Hong Kong as a Blitzbok in 2001, the tournament offers multiple opportunities for his squad: "Hong Kong delivers new faces and new stars every year and chances are very good that some of those will come out of this squad.
"This is a great opportunity for us to broaden the base of experience in the squad, to test our players on an iconic stage and most of all, to test our structures with a younger group of players."
Schoeman says the absence of senior players provides the prospect of new stars emerging for South Africa.
"Any team will miss some of the names not here, but this is a wonderful opportunity for this group of players to show what they can do. I am very excited to be part of this venture," the former national sevens captain explained.
The Springbok Sevens team (with World Rugby Sevens Series stats)
Heino Bezuidenhout (uncapped)
Ryan Oosthuizen (6 tournaments, 23 matches, 20 points, 5 tries)
Zain Davids (9 tournaments, 36 matches, 20 points, five tries)
Marco Labuschagne (2 tournaments, 2 matches, 0 points)
Mosolwa Mafuma (uncapped)
James Murphy (uncapped)
Selvyn Davids (3 tournaments, 15 matches, 21 points, three tries)
Dewald Human (captain; 2 tournaments, 7 points, 1 try)
Rhyno Smith (uncapped)
Stedman Gans (8 tournaments, 30 matches, 20 points, 4 tries)
Muller du Plessis (2 tournaments, 8 matches, 5 points)
Mfundo Ndhlovu (uncapped)
Sandile Ngcobo (6 tournaments, 20 matches, 4 tries)