Siviwe “Shakes” Soyizwapi has been named as the SA Seven's team captain in what will be a critical season for the team.

The 10-leg tournament will form part of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic preparations and the 2019/20 World Sevens Series season starts on December 5 in Dubai with the next leg in Cape Town in the following week.

Soyizwapi will be taking part in his 29th tournament and will lead a strong side containing the likes Rosko Specman‚ Chris Dry‚ Dylan Sage‚ Justin Geduld and Seabelo Senatla.

Ruhan Nel also makes a return while Christi Grobbelaar‚ who's an SA Rugby Sevens Academy product‚ will make his debut if he's picked.

Blitzbokke coach Neil Powell said they need to start better in Dubai as compared to last year when they exited in the quarterfinals and could only manage a sixth-place finish.

“We had a poor start in Dubai last year and it took us a while to recover from that.

"We can’t promise anything this time around‚ but I am pretty sure the effort will be there and if that is the case‚ we will be very competitive‚” Powell said.”

In what is a tentative step into the world of Sevens rugby‚ Lions loose forward Hacjivah Dayimani will be making his Sevens Academy debut in Dubai.

The Academy side is a strong one with the likes of Werner Kok‚ Branco du Preez‚ Cecil Afrika and Stedman Gans all making appearances.

The academy side will be playing against the Rambling Jesters‚ the French Military and the Russian Development.

The Blitzbokke will be up against England‚ Spain and Kenya in Pool D.

Blitzbokke squad: Chris Dry‚ Ryan Oosthuizen‚ Dylan Sage‚ Zain Davids‚ JC Pretorius‚ Siviwe Soyizwapi ©‚ Selvyn Davids‚ Rosko Specman‚ Justin Geduld‚ Kurt-Lee Arendse‚ Seabelo Senatla‚ Ruhan Nel‚ Christi Grobbelaar

SA Rugby Sevens Academy squad: Hacjivah Dayimani‚ James Murphy‚ Impi Visser‚ Angelo Davids‚ Werner Kok‚ Branco du Preez‚ Dewald Human‚ Malcolm Jaer‚ Darren Adonis‚ Cecil Afrika‚ Mfundo Ndhlovu‚ Stedman Gans (c)