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After winning the 2008/09 World Series with one of the most talented sides ever seen in Sevens, South Africa's stock and form dipped last season, but under coach Paul Treu they are now showing signs of a rebirth.

That same kind of form and talent has been in evidence as the South Africans captured the USA title in Las Vegas, the Plate trophy in Hong Kong and finished runners-up to New Zealand in Adelaide last time out.

"We're on an upward curve. We didn't start the season as well as we wanted to but we're just taking it from tournament to tournament. We'll try and progress and improve our performance," said captain, Kyle Brown.

"One of the big targets for this season was to bring in some youngsters and I think we've done that successfully and this weekend we'll be seeing William Small-Smith come into the fold and express himself at Twickenham."

One of the most significant imprints on the season has been the influx of new talent. New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens has blooded the likes of Frank Halai, Declan O'Donnell and Brice Heem, while his South African counterpart Paul Treu has introduced the likes of Craig Barry, Tshotsho Mbovane and Paul Jordaan.

Wiliam Small-Smith is the latest to come off the Springbok conveyor belt, having come through famous rugby nursery Grey College and captained SA Schools and the SARU High Performance Under 18 squad last year against England.

"There's a fantastic base of players back in South Africa. The breeding ground of South African rugby is some of the top schools out there and that's where we're going and we're picking some of the best players to come into our system," said Brown.

"What they bring into the set-up is talent but also a lot of energy, which is something that is very difficult to fake in Sevens.

"You can go out there, but if you don't have energy you're going to find it tough at the weekend.

"When someone like Tshotsho is on the field and using his feet the way that he knows he can, it creates a lot of energy and lifts the guys.

"We won't be looking to William to create energy this weekend, we'll be looking for him to bring what he knows he can bring, that little bit different."

While this year's HSBC Sevens World Series will certainly be won by either New Zealand or England, there is no question that the groundworks are being laid in South Africa for a major assault on the title next season.

"Since last year didn't go very well, we knew that we needed to build something a lot bigger, to aim a little further ahead, and I think that's the basis of the squad system back in Stellenbosch, contracting 22 players who are all fighting for a position on the team and all have the ability to come out here and compete when they are given their chance."