Rassie springs huge Bok flyhalf surprise for Barbarians clash

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus has named his team for the opening match of the season against the Barbarians on Saturday in Gqeberha.

The Springboks feature a total of 18 capped internationals, with the only two players in the starting line-up who have yet to make their Test debuts being Junior Bok captain Riley Norton (lock) and Carlu Sadie (prop), while the uncapped players among the replacements are JJ Kotze (hooker), Paul de Villiers (loose forward) and SA U20 flyhalf Vusi Moyo.

The backline has a strong international flavour to it with Aphelele Fassi, Cheslin Kolbe and Edwill van der Merwe forming the back three, while Andre Esterhuizen and Jesse Kriel will combine in a hard-running midfield combination, and Quan Horn will take over the No.10 jumper alongside Grant Williams at halfback.

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Up front, Ox Nche and Sadie will form a front row trio with Andre-Hugo Venter, while Norton and Franco Mostert will run the engine room, and the familiar loose trio of Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese completing the forward pack.

The replacements bench, which features six forwards and two backs, will see Kotze, Ntuthuko Mchunu and Zachary Porthen serve as the back-up front row, while Ben-Jason Dixon, De Villiers and Evan Roos will provide additional forward reinforcement. The two backline players on the bench are Faf de Klerk and Moyo.

Erasmus was pleased with the quality of the team he announced as injuries and enforced rest for certain players resulted in him having to tweak a few player combinations.

“We said from the outset that we wanted to give a few players returning from injury and others who have been playing overseas game time in this match, while at the same time exposing some of the younger players on our radar to top-class international rugby, and we believe this squad reflects those objectives,” said Erasmus.

“We have been very impressed with the way the new players have jumped straight into action and grasped our systems and structures, and we are excited to see what they can do alongside some of our regular Springbok players, as we build for what will be a challenging season with the Nations Championship and Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series approaching.”

Of the Barbarians, Erasmus said: “They have a group of exciting and experienced players in their squad, and they’ll come out guns blazing and try to produce an entertaining style of rugby, which will serve as a good test for us.

“They will challenge us, but this will be a good hit-out for our players to get back into top-level international rugby, with the England match a little over two weeks ago.

“That said, they are always a tough side to analyse because they have players from all around the world, and a quality coaching team, who will set high standards for them, so it will be important for us to focus on our game and what we would like to achieve.”

South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Quan Horn, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Riley Norton, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Paul de Villiers, 21 Evan Roos, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Vusi Moyo.

Date: Saturday, June 20
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha
Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
Referee: Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby (South Africa), Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)