Stephen Mokoka was reluctant to predict how the senior men's team would fare after an inexperienced squad was named by Athletics South Africa (ASA) on Wednesday for the World Cross Country championship in Bydgoszcz, Poland on March 28.
At the 2009 global championship in Amman, Mokoka placed 32nd in the senior men's 12km race, leading an experienced team to ninth overall, but he believes weather conditions might have a negative affect on the young squad that will line up in Bydgoszcz.
"We really can't predict how the team will do because it's winter over there and we've been told that it's cold and raining a lot," Mokoka said.
"Sometimes your body feels good when you arrive at the race but then things don't go well for you, so all I can say is that we'll have to see how it goes on the day."
Mokoka was second behind Boy Soke - who will not compete in Bydgoszcz -at the Southern Region Cross Country championship in Mauritius on February, with South Africa sweeping the top five places in the senior men's race.
And the 25-year-old, who will be competing in his third World Cross Country championship, said they would need to work together again if they are to match their 2009 performance in Amman.
"We worked as a team in Mauritius and it worked for us there," Mokoka said, "so if we can do the same next weekend, it should work again."
Mokoka has gained valuable international experience since the 2009 event, placing eighth at the 2009 World Half-marathon championship in Birmingham.
He has been in impressive form in 2010, clocking 13min27.22 over 5 000m in Port Elizabeth in February. Two weeks later he paced the field through the 25km mark at the Lake Biwa marathon in Otsu Japan - where South African Hendrick Ramaala placed 11th - before dropping out according to the pre-race plan.
But while he has grown in stature since Amman, Mokoka doesn't believe the experience he has gained will make much of a difference in Bydgoszcz.
"I don't think you can really take that experience in to a race like this because the guys you've run against before aren't necessarily going to line up next weekend," Mokoka said.
"Having competed at the World Cross Country championship before, the pressure is definitely reduced, but the Kenyan and Ethiopian teams will probably be completely different to their 2009 teams, or their teams at the World Half-marathon championship, so you can't count too much on that experience in this race."
Mokoka, 25, is by far the oldest member of the six-member team - with an average age of only 21 - and Kgosi Tsosane is the only other member of the 2009 squad (he was a lowly 107th in Amman) to retain his place.
The senior women's team, 10th in 2009, is led by in-form siblings Lebogang and Lebo Phalula, who were 29th and 39th respectively in Amman.
Tebogo Masehla, the South African record holder in the 3 000m steeplechase, will hope to improve on her 74th position in the 2009 8km race, while Marelise Retief brings more experience to the six-member team in her third global cross country championship.
Four of the six South Africans who competed in the junior men's 8km race last year retain their places in the team as they look to improve on their 2009 performance when they placed 10th overall. They will be led by 17-year-old Mfumaneko Fadane, who was 47th in Amman, and 18-year-old Sityhilo Diko who will compete in his third consecutive lobal cross country event.
Ashleigh Schnetler, 18, was 77th in Amman, and 17-year-old Letitia Saayman was 80th; the duo will lead a largely inexperienced junior women's team next weekend.
Blanche Moila, a former South African cross country champion and member of the ASA interim board, will lead the 24-member team to Bydgoszcz as head of delegation.
Team
Senior men:
Lungisa Mdadelwa, Stephen Mokoka, Xolisa Tyali, Kgosi Tsosane, Sibabalwe Mzazi, Siyabonga Nkonde.
Senior women:
Lebogang Phalula, Lebo Phalula, Petronella Thomas, Ntombisintu Mfunzi, Tebogo Masehla, Marelise Retief.
Junior men:
Vuyisile Tshoba, Lucas Bothobutle, Sityhilo Diko, Joel Mmonne, Mfumaneko Fadane, Pieter Wilders.
Junior women:
Letitia Saayman, Sylvia Tshetlanyane, Thato Makhafola, Mamphielo Sibanda, Ashleigh Schnetler, Juan Marie Cooper. - Sapa