Former Bulls centre Stephan Dippenaar is set to make his Springbok Sevens rugby debut in New Zealand next month.

He was included in the 14-man squad for the next two legs of the Sevens World Series in Wellington and Las Vegas.

Dippenaar signed a two-year contract with the Blitzbokke last year.

Sevens coach Paul Treu, whose team lost its home tournament to the Kiwis in the final in Port Elizabeth last December, said his team would try to maintain consistency during the next two tournaments.

“The new points system on offer, as well as the additional ninth tournament, really brought another dimension to the series,” Treu said.

“There are no more easy pool matches because the teams want to secure a good seeding position for the next tournament, so we can expect two more very competitive tournaments in Wellington and Las Vegas.”

Last year, Kyle Brown's team won their first tournament of the season in Las Vegas. That victory kick-started a good run of form for the team, who went on to lift two more titles in Scotland and England, to eventually claim second place overall behind series winners New Zealand.

South Africa are currently third on the series log, three points behind joint leaders Fiji and New Zealand, who have 51 points each.

Just one point separates South Africa and England in the standings after three tournaments.

Treu said his team had put the disappointment of losing the home cup final behind them and they were looking forward to resuming the series.

“Our previous cup success in Wellington was 10 years ago, so that will be a huge motivating factor for us.

“The New Zealand leg is always tough because of the great support for the Pacific Island teams, but we will embrace the challenge and hope to improve on our most recent performances in New Zealand.”

The team departs for Wellington on Friday.

Springbok Sevens squad: Chris Dry, Chase Minnaar, Frankie Horne, Boom Prinsloo, Cornal Hendricks, Kyle Brown (captain), Branco du Preez, Bernado Botha, Paul Delport, Cecil Afrika, Steven Hunt, Mark Richards, Stephan Dippenaar, Renfred Dazel. – Sapa