Moerat to lead new-look Bok team

Salmaan Moerat will take over the Springbok captaincy for the first time when he leads a squad featuring seven uncapped players in a first Test with emerging nation Portugal in the final match of the Castle Lager Incoming Series in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus included all seven of the uncapped players in his training squad for the historic Test, which will also be the first time the Boks have been refereed by a woman, with Scotland’s Hollie Davidson taking the whistle.

The uncapped players in the starting lineup 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.

The 26-year-old Moerat becomes the 66^th Springbok captain – and the third in four tests this year – as he makes the step up having previously led SA Schools, the Junior Springboks and the DHL Stormers.

Only four players in the team were retained from Saturday’s match-23 against Ireland: Kurt-Lee Arendse (wing), RG Snyman, Moerat (both locks), and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back).

Portugal have been steadily climbing the world rankings, rising from 27^th at the start of 2019 to their present ranking of 15^th, and made a notable impression at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

“Portugal are a quality team as we saw with their victory against Fiji in the RWC, 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.”

Erasmus said he was pleased to be able to hand the captaincy to Moerat, whose track record as a captain was a testament of his abilities as a fine leader: “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 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 (centre), Manie Libbok (flyhalf), Cobus Reinach (scrumhalf), Trevor Nyakane and Thomas du Toit (props).

Eight players were members of the match-23 that defeated Wales 41-13 in London in the team’s opening match of the season in June: Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Aphelele Fassi (fullback), Makazole Mapimpi (wing), Andre Esterhuizen (centre), Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon (both loose forwards), Moerat, and Ntuthuko Mchunu (prop).

“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 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 that they could compete successfully against some of the top teams in the world and we believe they will lift their game even more this weekend given the magnitude of facing the Springboks.

“This occasion will really excite them, and they’ll certainly give everything to make a statement for the Tier Two nations, so we have to deliver a top-quality performance to get a result.

“This match is also an opportunity for us to work on what went wrong last week and finish the Castle Lager Incoming Series on a high note, so we will treat them and the occasion with the respect it deserves.

“There are no easy games in Test rugby, and for us personally, it’s important to live up to our standards and build momentum going into the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.”

Springbok team to face Portugal in Bloemfontein:

15 – Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - 4 caps, 10 points (2t)

14 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) - 17 caps, 70 points (14t)

13 – Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - 35 caps, 30 pts (6t)

12 – Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - 17 caps, 0 pts

11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - 42 caps, 135 points (27t)

10 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) - 14 caps, 87 pts (1t, 26c, 10p)

9 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) - 32 caps, 65 pts (13t)

8 – Evan Roos (DHL Stormers) - 6 caps, 0 points

7 – Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers) – 1 cap, 0 points

6 – Phepsi Buthelezi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - uncapped

5 – RG Snyman (Leinster) - 36 caps, 10 points (2t)

4 – Salmaan Moerat (captain, DHL Stormers) - 6 caps, 0 points

3 – Thomas du Toit (Bath) - 18 caps, 0 pts

2 – Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls) - uncapped

1 – Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) - uncapped

Replacements:

16 – Andre-Hugo Venter (DHL Stormers) - uncapped

17 – Ntuthuko Mchunu (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - 2 caps, 0 points

18 – Trevor Nyakane (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - 67 caps, 5 pts (1t)

19 – Ruan Venter (Emirates Lions) - uncapped

20 – Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 3 caps, 0 points

21 – Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions) – uncapped

22 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) - 3 caps, 7 points (2c, 1p)

23 – Quan Horn (Emirates Lions) – uncapped

Stats and facts:

• This will mark the first Test between the Springboks and Portugal.
• Manie Libbok requires 13 points in the match to hit the 100-point mark in Test rugby.
• This will mark the first time this season that Rugby World Cup winners Lukhanyo Am, Cobus Reinach, Manie Libbok, Thomas du Toit and Trevor Nyakane will run out in the Bok jersey.
• Salmaan Moerat becomes the 66^th Springbok captain.
• Should Andre-Hugo Venter be sent on, he will follow in the footsteps of his father, Andre Venter, who played 66 Tests for South Africa between 1996 and 2001. They will become the 16^th father/son combination to play for the Boks.
• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 228.
• There are 161 caps in the backline, with 67 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 75 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 23, the forwards 8, while the players on the bench average 9.