The Ireland squad of 22 heading for South Africa under coach Craig Fulton take their first real step towards qualifying for Rio 2016.

With the new year behind them, the six-Test match camp will shape the Ireland squad for the first of the Olympic qualification hurdles in San Diego at the end of February.

The badly-named World League Two, which is really Rio stage one, should be negotiated by Ireland before they move on, probably to Argentina for the following phase.

Ireland’s preparation sets them against South Africa, the Netherlands and Belgium, who will provide strong tests. The teams are often experimental including Ireland – David and Conor Harte will not be there – but the depth of the quality all round will ensure good exposure for the players.

The Harte omissions are due to their commitment to professional club Debang Mumbai, who are competing in the Hockey India League beginning on January 22nd.

The Ireland team departs for South Africa the day before that Hockey India date and face the host country in their first match on January 25th.

South Africa was chosen because of the quality of the opposition and the climate in Cape Town and Stellenbosch, which is akin to southern California.

Ronan Gormley (188 caps) and Eugene Magee (184 caps) are back providing much-needed experience, especially against the Netherlands and Belgium who are ranked two and four in the world.