The South Africans claimed a notable comeback win against reigning World Sevens Series champions New Zealand last time out in Port Elizabeth to leave them lying second overall in the standings behind the All Blacks.

The Blitzbokke have been drawn in Pool A alongside Kenya, Canada and Wales as the first round of the series in 2014 gets underway tomorrow and runs until Sunday (January 26).

Wales come into the tournament under the direction of new head coach Gareth Williams, who took over the reins earlier this month after Paul John left to take up a new coaching role with the Cardiff Blues.

Williams is expecting a tough battle to get out of the pool, especially from the in-form South Africans.

"It's quite a physical group, first day's going to be interesting but it's a challenge the boys are quietly excited about and they've trained well over the fortnight and hopefully that's enough to get through a very tough group," he said.

"South Africa are coming off a tournament win, the form side in the series and offer a huge physicality but with a cutting edge.

"Kenya - you just know the physicality they will bring and we've got to match that, try and pressurise them when they've got the ball and respect the ball when we've got it.

"Canada; we're always in tough battles with them, came off second best in the Gold Coast but had an excellent win in PE (Port Elizabeth), so a very physical weekend, no doubts about that, but we know what we want to achieve in every facet of the game."

Wales will be competing in Las Vegas under the direction of new head coach Gareth Williams ©Getty Images