WeeklySA_AdminIDEAL OPPORTUNITY: Rassie Erasmus names four uncapped players as Lood de Jager returns to face the Barbarians
By Sports Reporter
Rassie Erasmus has named his first Springboks matchday squad of the year, with four uncapped players set to feature against the Barbarians in Cape Town.
With the Barbarians being a composite team, no Test caps will be awarded for the match but Saturday’s encounter will see prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye, flanker Vincent Tshituka, hooker Marnus van der Merwe and prop Neethling Fouche pull on the Green and Gold jersey for the first time, the former duo named in the starting XV.
They will feature alongside a few Rugby World Cup winners and seasoned campaigners on the replacements bench. The clash will also see veteran lock Lood de Jager make his return to the Springboks jersey, having last played for South Africa during the 2023 Rugby Championship before illness ruled him out of the Rugby World Cup.
“Lood is in great form and hopped straight back into the thick of things with the intensity and work rate that we are used to seeing him deliver, and we are thrilled to see him and players like Faf (de Klerk) and Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) who missed a large chunk of last season back from injury,” Erasmus said on De Jager’s return after an extended stint on the sidelines.
De Jager partners Jean Kleyn in the second-row while Tshituka is joined in the back-row by captain Siya Kolisi and number eight Jean-Luc du Preez.
Ntlabakanye starts at tighthead with Malcolm Marx at hooker and Ox Nche featuring at loosehead prop. Rassie Erasmus reveals Daan Human’s role in Springboks newbie shedding 18 kilograms
Morne van den Berg is the starting scrum-half and partners Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, with Erasmus fielding the most experienced centre combination in Springboks history in the form of double Rugby World Cup winners Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel.
The back-three sees Aphelele Fassi start at full-back with Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse named on the wings.
Bulls players, as well as RG Snyman, Thomas du Toit and Handre Pollard, only joined the squad last week following their involvement in the United Rugby Championship and Premiership Finals.
As a result, only Bulls utility forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels has been included in the match-23 from this group of players.
Wessels features on the bench along with uncapped front-rowers Van der Merwe and Fouche.
Erasmus has also selected a 5-3 split on the bench with Franco Mostert and Kwagga Smith covering the second and back-row, respectively.
Cobus Reinach, Manie Libbok and Andre Esterhuizen complete the matchday 23. Springboks squad: Winners and losers as Lood de Jager makes long-awaited return while Rassie Erasmus flexes depth
Erasmus explains selections
“We’ve said over the last few weeks that this match will provide the ideal opportunity to get the Japanese-based players and a few other players back into full match-mode for the Castle Lager Incoming Series, while we also have the opportunity to see first-hand how a few of the newer players in the squad perform at this level, so we are excited to see what this group can do,” said Erasmus.
“With a handful of players having participated in the Vodacom URC Grand Final and Handre in the Gallagher Premiership Final, they lost out on over a week of training, so it was our plan from the outset to select players who we have been working with for the last few weeks and who are already functioning well within our structures. That said, we are planning to rotate our squad throughout the season to manage the players, and we are pleased with the depth we have within this group.”
Commenting on the four uncapped players in the matchday team, Erasmus said: “They have all slotted into our systems really well and have a good understanding of what we want to do in this match, while it also presents us with a fantastic opportunity to see how they measure up against a handful of experienced players in the Barbarians team. This may not be an official Test match, but we are approaching it as such, and a good result will hopefully set us on course for an exciting season.
“Asenathi, Vincent, Neethling, and Marnus have all been impressive at training and for their respective franchises this season, and we hope to see them replicate those quality performances in this match.”
