Springboks: Rassie Erasmus’ shock new captain as SEVEN players debut against Portugal

The Springboks have named seven uncapped players in their matchday squad for this weekend’s match against Portugal, with Salmaan Moerat handed the captaincy.

Head coach Rassie Erasmus will be keen to bounce back in Bloemfontein after their 25-24 loss to Ireland at Kings Park in Durban, which resulted in a drawn series.

The uncapped players in the starting line-up are former Junior Springbok captain Phepsi Buthelezi, Johan Grobbelaar and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, while Andre-Hugo Venter, Ruan Venter, Morne van den Berg and Quan Horn have made the replacements bench.

66th Springbok captain

26-year-old Moerat becomes the 66th Springbok captain as he makes the step up having previously skippered SA Schools, the Junior Springboks and the Stormers.

Only four players in the team were retained from last weekend’s matchday 23 against Ireland: Kurt-Lee Arendse, RG Snyman, Moerat and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Indeed there is a healthy mix of new and experienced faces in Erasmus‘ selection as Portugal’s performances at the Rugby World Cup make them a dangerous rival.

“Portugal are a quality team as we saw with their victory against Fiji in the World Cup, while they also drew their clash against Georgia 18-18,” said Erasmus.

“It was important for us to select a quality team with a bunch of experienced players, while at the same time delivering on our objective of growing our squad depth by naming a few debutants.

“Salmaan commands respect from his teammates, so we’d like to congratulate him on this achievement, and we have no doubt that he’ll take on this responsibility as well as he has for the other teams he has led,” he said.

“He has come through the SA Rugby ranks, and he went on to captain the Junior Springboks and SA Schools teams, as well as the DHL Stormers and Western Province, which speaks volumes about his quality as a player and a captain.”

The match marks the first appearance of the Test season for Rugby World Cup winners Lukhanyo Am, Manie Libbok, Cobus Reinach, Trevor Nyakane and Thomas du Toit.

Meanwhile, eight players were members of the squad that beat Wales 41-13 at Twickenham in the team’s opening match of the season in June: Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Aphelele Fassi, Makazole Mapimpi, Andre Esterhuizen, Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon, Moerat, and Ntuthuko Mchunu.

“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 all well aware of the standards we expect on the field and the way we do things,” said Erasmus.

“All of the uncapped players, apart from Ruan Venter, were also members of our training squad in June, and we were very impressed with the way they fitted into our structures and their work ethic. 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 Rugby World Cup winners and experienced campaigners, who will play a vital role in guiding the young players and keeping things calm in the pressure situations.”