New faces and familiar comforts for Blitzbokke

The Springbok Sevens side kick-off their 2016 season against Samoa in their first Pool B match of the Dubai leg on Friday.

After a couple of months of preparation, the side goes into the World Series with a couple of new faces while some regular members return to the fold.

After touching down in Dubai, Brown said he felt right at home in the UAE. However, he believes a couple of players would have to acclimatise to life on the Sevens circuit.

"It’s a very familiar place to come back to, the Intercontinental and the Crown Plaza. It’s the same place we’ve been to for the last 5 or 6 years and eating breakfast, lunch and dinner on the terrace feels very familiar to me," Brown said.

"But I can imagine for a couple of new guys coming into the setup, being here for the first time, this is going to be a very interesting experience."

A lot has been made of the Blitzbokke's preparation for the Sevens Series as the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro looms large on the horizon next year. Qualification has been secured, but building form and figuring out the right selection mix is high on the agenda.

"Where I am feeling a little unfamiliar about things is always finding it difficult to gauge how the preparations have gone in comparison to other teams but I suppose if we look introspectively at the way we’ve prepared, I am quite happy with the preparations over the last couple of months," Brown said.

Welcoming new faces into the squad hasn't been a problem and the skipper said the current mix is a happy bunch.

"For us, culture is number one, it’s the foundation of everything and we’ve spoken about that since we announced we would have other players joining the team. In terms of the guys that have joined the team, Rayno (Benjamin) and Cheslin (Kolbe) have been in and out of the setup for the last couple of years already so they’re very much accustomed with what we do here," Brown said.

The Blitzbokke also have two Springboks at their disposal, who've jumped ship from the 15-man game to dabble in Sevens.

"Juan (de Jongh) and Francois (Hougaard), who recently joined the team, have done incredibly well to humble themselves and soak up any bit of information they can. They've really been there to learn as often as possible and these are two guys who are incredibly experienced on the national stage."

When asked whether opponents would employ a change in playing style ahead of the Olympics, Brown was hard-pressed to say no considering the vast difference between teams and the players at their disposal.

"I think you are going to find a combination between all the different teams. There will be some teams that don’t have enough depth that will just go from the very first tournament and build until the end. They’ll go out to win every tournament they can," Brown said.

"I think with the Unions that have the depth and the possibility of trying new players, you are going to go through a lot of trial and error which will have an effect on momentum throughout the season but it’s necessary to make sure you trial the best team going into the Olympics."

The Blitzbokke take on Samoa 07h44 on Friday morning. They'll meet Russia at 10h44 in their second match of the day, them take on Scotland at 17h12 on Friday afternoon.

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