A host of Springbok fringe players and new caps will get a chance to thrill when the Boks take on Portugal in their one-off Test at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday evening (5pm).
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus on Tuesday named an exciting team featuring a mix of experience and youth, with seven uncapped players set to make their Bok debuts, four of them off the bench, while he named lock Salmaan Moerat as captain for the match.
The uncapped starters in the team are Phepsi Buthelezi, Johan Grobbelaar and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, while Andre-Hugo Venter, Ruan Venter, Morne van den Berg and Quan Horn should debut off the bench during the match.
Work ethicEight players were members of the match-23 that defeated Wales 41-13 in London in the teams opening game of the season in June, namely Sacha 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, explained Erasmus.
