South Africa head into this weekend's Emirates Airline Glasgow Sevens seven points behind Series leaders New Zealand.

Having made five consecutive Cup finals on this year's HSBC Sevens World Series, winning two of them, Neil Powell's side found themselves two points ahead of the All Blacks Sevens and on course to win only their second-ever World Series title. 

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But after losing to England in the quarter finals in Hong Kong, and with New Zealand beating Simon Amor's side in the final, the Blitzbokke now find themselves as far back as they were after the opening round in Australia. 

"We coughed it up a little in Hong Kong which wasn't ideal for us," said Horne, who takes over the armband in Kyle Brown's absence.

"Now New Zealand are seven points ahead and at this stage it looks a bit difficult for us to catch them. Even if we play in two finals it will be hard to catch them.

"First we have to go out and there and tick those boxes to reach the finals first, which is our main goal.

"Maybe then we can talk about the Series as a whole, but it can certainly still can go either way."

History in Scotland

Brown is not their only absentee this weekend, with their title bid being dealt a further blow with the absence of Cecil Afrika, 

But Chris Dry has recovered from injury, and Shaun Adendorff is set to make his debut having come through the ranks with the South African U20s. 

"It is a decent squad, it is just a shame Kyle and Cecil couldn't make the cut," added Horne.

"We've got a squad where most of the players have won a tournament. Mark (Richards) is back in for the first time since Australia, and Shaun (Adendorff) is the only new guy.

"You have to take these players' development forward. Shaun has a great career ahead of him, he played very well at the JWC and you need to get new blood in and see how they go, and what better time to test them than now."

Having won two of the last three Cup titles in Scotland, South Africa enjoy coming back to Scotland, despite the cold weather.

"We did well last year, the year before that we didn't do too bad, and the year before that we won the last tournament in Edinburgh, so it is always good to be back," explained Horne. "It is a little cold and that is not really our thing but we will go out and perform to the best of our abilities nonetheless."

Game changer

Perhaps most interestingly this weekend, South Africa face their closest rivals New Zealand in the final Pool A match of the day at Scotstoun Stadium, a match which could determine where the title ends up. 

"Having South Africa in our pool is a game changer, and for both sides it is going to be huge," added New Zealand captain DJ Forbes. 

"They know to give themselves an even better chance at winning the World Series the best way is to have us in their pool, and so be it...."