And according to Nadine Roos, one of the team’s star performers, they are also going all out to chase a podium finish.
Roos made her international sevens debut in 2016 and was part of squads who missed out on travelling to the Olympics in Rio and Tokyo, so this year, their passage to Paris means everything to the incumbents.
“We know we are also representing those who qualified in the past but did not go,” said Roos.
“When we take the field at the Stade de France for our first game against Australia, we will remember those teammates. We will also be encouraged by the knowledge that the Springboks have won the Rugby World Cup twice at this location.”
The newcomers could not have asked for a more difficult task in their first Olympics, facing a past gold medalist team that they have not defeated in many years.
“We had a frank and open discussion about this – we played them during the world series and had our moments, but could not beat them,” replied Roos.
