The South Africa women’s and men’s national hockey teams will be aiming to build on their strong endings to the recent World Cup when they take part in the Investec Cup in London.
The women will get their campaign underway against Scotland, while the men will play their first game against Ireland.
Both sides will also look to use the competition to prepare for the Commonwealth Games, which are due to start in Glasgow on 23 July.
England, Scotland, Ireland and South Africa, all Commonwealth Games contestants, make up the men’s line-up in London, while the women’s teams are also Commonwealth Games sides, namely England, Scotland, Wales and South Africa.
“We will only have one training here before the Scotland match so we be looking at getting our processes right in that game,” South African women’s captain Marsha Cox said.
South Africa beat Japan 2-0 to end ninth at the World Cup, two spots above their world ranking.
South African men’s captain Austin Smith is expecting a tough start against the Irish, who have continued to improve their game in recent years.
“The last time we met, before the Olympics in 2012, they beat us, and we will only have had one training session, so we will be focusing more on getting ourselves familiar with the game plan and carrying on where we left off during the 6-2 win over Malaysia at the World Cup in June,” said Smith.
South African Investec Cup fixtures (SA time
9 July
SA women vs Scotland 12:00
SA men vs Ireland 18:15
10 July
SA women vs England 14:15
SA men vs England 20:30
12 July
SA men vs Scotland 10.45
SA women vs Wales 18:15
13 July
Playoffs for final placings
