Springbok team to face Portugal
Seven uncapped players will run out behind captain Salmaan Moerat when he leads the Springboks for the first time on Saturday.
The Boks will take on Portugal for the first time and Moerat has been charged with taking the reins of the world champions against the side ranked 15th in the world.
The list of firsts don’t stop there as Scotland’s Hollie Davidson will be the first woman to take the referee’s whistle in a Bok Test.
The rookies in Saturday’s Test are former Junior Springbok captain Phepsi Buthelezi (flanker), Johan Grobbelaar (hooker) and Jan-Hendrik Wessels (prop), while Andre-Hugo Venter (hooker), Ruan Venter (loose forward), Morne van den Berg (scrumhalf) and Quan Horn (fullback) could be in line to make their Test debuts from the replacements’ bench.
Wessels, who has mostly operated at hooker for the Bulls, will start at loosehead prop, while provincial teammate Grobbelaar gets the nod in the No 2 jersey after sterling performances in the United Rugby Championship.
Ditto Buthelezi in the back row for the Sharks, though some of his best performances came en route to the Challenge Cup title.
Only Kurt-Lee Arendse (wing), RG Snyman, Moerat (both locks) and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back) have been retained from the match day squad that did duty in the second Test against Ireland.
The match marks the first appearance of the Test season for Rugby World Cup winners Lukhanyo Am (centre), Manie Libbok (flyhalf), Cobus Reinach (scrumhalf), Trevor Nyakane and Thomas du Toit (both props).
Eight players who were members of the match-23 that defeated Wales 41-13 in London in the team’s opening match of the season in June are Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Aphelele Fassi (fullback), Makazole Mapimpi (wing), André Esterhuizen (centre), Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon (both loose forwards), Moerat and Ntuthuko Mchunu (prop).
Moerat will take another step in building his legacy having previously led SA Schools, the Junior Springboks and the Stormers. He will become the 66th Springbok captain — and the third in four Tests this year.
“It was important for us to select a quality team with experienced players while delivering on our objective of growing our squad depth by naming a few debutants,” said Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus.
He was pleased to be able to hand the captaincy to Moerat, whose track record as a captain was testament to his abilities as a fine leader.
Salmaan commands respect from his teammates, so we congratulate him on this achievement and we have no doubt he’ll take on this responsibility as well as he has for the other teams he has led.
“Most of the so-called younger players have been exposed to Test rugby in one way or another by either playing against Wales or Ireland or have been around the squad so they are aware of the standards we expect on the field and the way we do things,” said Erasmus.
He added that all the uncapped players, apart from Ruan Venter, were also members of the training squad in June.
“We have full faith in their abilities, and we’re excited to see what they offer on the field on Saturday.”
“The squad also includes a few RWC winners and experienced campaigners who will play a vital role in guiding the young players and keeping things calm in the pressure situations.”
Erasmus said he expected a fierce battle against Portugal. “They proved they could compete successfully against some of the top teams in the world and we believe they will lift their game more this weekend given the magnitude of facing the Springboks.”
Though Portugal are still considered minnows outside rugby’s well-established order, they have made significant inroads over the past few years. Their performance at last year’s Rugby World Cup where they downed Fiji and drew with Georgia is part of an upward curve that has seen them rise from 27th at the start of 2019 to 15th.
