Proteas coach Gary Kirsten said on Friday his team had to prove they could play well consistently in whatever conditions they faced if they are to achieve their long term goal of being the number one cricket nation in the world.

Kirsten and T20 and one-day international (ODI) captain AB de Villiers were speaking at OR Tambo International airport in Johannesburg prior to the team's departure for New Zealand where they will play three T20s, three ODIs and three Tests over the next seven weeks.

"Our focus of attention is how well we can play in any conditions that we're confronted with," said Kirsten, who is on his first overseas tour as coach of the South African side.

"We can't control what pitches they give us but, at end of day, we have to just go with whatever we're confronted with and play the best cricket we can.

"What we need to do in those game-breaking moments is to make sure that we give ourselves the best chance of success more often than not and plan accordingly to get the results we're looking for."

Kirsten said they were all looking forward to their first tour under new coaching and support staff as well as a younger T20 international team.

"The T20 team is a very young side so there's going to be a lot of energy and intensity for the first part of the tour.

"Then a couple of our more experienced guys come back for the one-dayers and they'll have been well-rested and will be motivated and looking forward to the remainder of tour."

The Proteas last played the Black Caps in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, a game they lost and would be keen to erase from their memories.

"We don't need a lot of motivation at the moment," said De Villiers embarking on not only his first tour of New Zealand but also his first tour as captain of the T20 and one-day international sides.

"We're a young side with a lot to prove and our last experience against New Zealand was quite a sad one for us - but they played the better cricket on the day and that's history now and we have to move on.

"It's very exciting for us so we're going to go there and try and get a team spirit going and hopefully play really good cricket."

The T20 squad includes debutants Richard Levi and Marchant de Lange and also sees the return of Justin Ontong and the side bodes well for the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka in August.

"All three of them have performed extremely well over the last few years," said De Villiers.

"Justin has shown a lot of promise and it's great to see him performing well at this level now and I truly believe he'll come through at international level.

"Marchant is very promising and has done really well at Test and domestic level. He's a wicket-taker for us and I'm looking forward to seeing him perform.

"Richard is explosive up front and it'll be exciting going to the T20 World Cup later in the year with those three names and I'm looking forward to seeing them perform in New Zealand."

De Villiers said he was aware that New Zealand were a team full of savvy and they knew how to exploit their home conditions and make effective use of whatever skills were at their disposal.

"They're a clever team and it's something we'll discuss once we get there and get our game plans in place," he said.

"They're very street-smart and they think on their feet but hopefully we'll be the smarter team in the upcoming series."