Cape Town — The South African men's hockey team will make their bow in the elite FIH (International Hockey Federation) Pro League on Tuesday when they run out against the world No 4-ranked The Netherlands at the North-West University in Potchefstroom.
Tuesday's match marks the start of intensive competition for the world No 10s South Africa, who will return to action 24 hours later against India (3) on Wednesday.
SA will again have back-to-back encounters against The Netherlands and India starting on Saturday.
Garreth Ewing, the SA men's coach, believes he has the players to make an impact against some of the world's strongest teams. The 67-capped Ntuli is in a rich vein of form. Much is expected of him in the absence of regular captain Tim Drummond and Matt Guise-Brown who were unavailable.
"Bili Ntuli is in great form and I expect him to be very important for us on the attack," said Ewing. "Nic Spooner is becoming a world-class midfielder and I’m looking forward to seeing him compete against the best in the world.
"Jethro Eustice is one of our most experienced backs and I know he is going to be an important steadying influence for us on defence.
"A new guy to keep an eye out for us Connor Beauchamp, I think his drag-flick is going to make a big impact for us:
The 63-capped Daniel Bell said it will be great running out at Potchefstroom as the African champions. However, the team faced a vastly different challenge now. He said the players were determined to take full advantage of competing with the world's best teams after the withdrawal of Australia and New Zealand.
"We are feeling confident and have the momentum after the African Cup of Nations conquest," said Bell. "We are looking forward to the challenge. It is an opportunity we are looking to grab with both hands.
"It is great that we are now a Top-10 world-ranked team, but the challenge is to remain there. We need to be competitive and perform consistently. We are determined to meet our goals as a team during this event."
Last year at the Tokyo Olympics, the team were shattered after a 5-3 defeat to The Netherlands in their Pool B clash - this after they threw away a 3-0 lead against the European Champions.
This might be worth remembering at the team’s final pep talk on Tuesday morning.
IOL Sport