The Blitzboks begin their Cape Town Sevens campaign on Saturday against an old foe, just by a different name.
Great Britain, not just England, will take on the hosts. The Great Britain side is comprised of England, Scotland and Wales.
This change was announced in July last year. The main reason for this is that the three nations had previously competed separately on the World Sevens Series, but had combined as Great Britain since sevens was added to the Olympics in 2016.
The countries again combined for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but continued to play separately outside the quadrennial showpiece.
Qualification for the Paris Olympics
Now, with the current season of the World Sevens Series forming part of the qualification process for the Olympics - it just makes more sense for the countries to compete under the banner of Great Britain.
England Rugby Football Union performance director Conor O’Shea said last year when the move was announced: “This is a seminal day for sevens, it is the right way forward, giving Team GB a real opportunity to go to the Olympic games with the right preparation, to compete on a level playing field with other sevens programmes and most importantly enables us all to give certainty to staff and players as to the future of the programme.”
Outside of the World Sevens Series, England, Scotland and Wales compete independently in the Commonwealth Games and the Sevens World Cup.
On Saturday, Great Britain will take on the hosts at 10.50am.