Rassie selects four new faces and some seasoned veterans for Boks against Barbarians

Lions prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye and Sharks flank Vincent Tshituka are two new faces in the Springbok starting lineup to face the Barbarians at DHL Stadium on Saturday.

Scarlets hooker Marnus van der Merwe and prop Neethling Fouché will have their first taste of Springbok rugby from the bench against a Baabaas team that includes 18 Test players in the 23-man touring squad.

Coach Rassie Erasmus continued the theme laid out by assistant coach Tony Brown earlier in the week, when declaring that the Boks would approach the contest like a Test.

He has certainly picked a bruising pack to lay down a strong foundation while also dotting the team with flair.

Tshituka is a big No 7 flank but he also possesses some silky skills, as does the massive 141kg Ntlabakanye, who, despite his size, is a baller.

“Playing within the Bok structures is definitely a thing that I’ve got to do, but at the same time I also want to bring Vincent to the table,” Tshituka said.

“It’s definitely (about) structures, and that’s what we’ve worked hard on and what Rassie has spoken about at the alignment camps in the past two weeks.

“I need to be aligned with what the team wants to do, and then I want to see where I can bring myself into the team.”

Experience?

Veteran lock Lood de Jager will make his first appearance for the Boks after an injury-plagued two years as the main lineout target, while Sale’s Jean-Luc du Preez, who fell out of favour last year, starts at No 8.

“We have largely selected the guys who have been training with us for the last two, three weeks,” Erasmus said.

“They understand more or less what we’re trying to get better this year. So that was one thing. The Bulls players wouldn’t have trained a lot with us. Guys like Thomas du Toit, Handré Pollard and RG Snyman haven’t. 

“So the only real player who’s in the mix here who played last weekend is Jan Hendrik Wessels because we needed a loosehead prop.

“Apart from that, yes, then also a few of the Japanese players need game time.

“The average caps here is probably about 30 to 32. We normally go above 40 to 55 in a Test. In vital positions we have inexperienced players. Aphelele Fassi’s got 11 caps, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has eight caps, scrumhalf Morné van den Berg got two. Our starting tighthead is uncapped and the reserve front row has got one cap between them.

“So I’m trying to get some steady hands in between the inexperience while bringing through more inexperienced players at this level.”

Experimentation

“We’ve said over the past few weeks that this match will provide the ideal opportunity to get the Japanese-based players and a few other players back into full match mode for the Incoming Series (against Italy and Georgia),” Erasmus added.

“We also have the opportunity to see first hand how a few of the newer players in the squad perform at this level, so we are excited to see what this group can do.

“With a handful of players having participated in the United Rugby Championship Grand Final and Handré (Pollard) and Thomas (Du Toit) in the Premiership Final, they lost out on over a week of training.

“It was our plan from the outset to select players who we have been working with for the last few weeks and who are already functioning well within our structures.

“That said, we are planning to rotate our squad throughout the season to manage the players, and we are pleased with the depth we have within this group.”

Eighteen players with Test experience from across the world touched down in Cape Town at the start of the week, reporting for duty for the Barbarians.

The 23-man squad, which includes former Junior Springbok lock Ruben van Heerden of the Stormers and coached by Robbie Deans, are preparing to take on the Springboks for the first time on South African soil.

The first five players confirmed for the fixture were the Irish centurion duo of Cian Healy (prop) and Peter O’Mahony (flank), while former All Black captain Sam Cane and his Kiwi teammate Shannon Frizell (both loose forwards) were also locked in.

They will be joined by five more capped All Blacks in Hoskins Sotutu (loose forward), Tawera Kerr-Barlow (scrumhalf), Peter Umaga-Jensen (utility back), Leicester Fainga’anuku (wing) and Mark Tele’a (wing).

Joe Marchant (England), Melvyn Jaminet (France), Santiago Arata Perrone (Uruguay), David Ribbans (England), Camille Chat (France), Will Collier (England), Hassane Kolingar (France), and Paul Alo-Emile (Samoa) are all capped at Test level. DM

South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Neethling Fouché, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Andre Esterhuizen.

Barbarians squad:

Forwards:

Cian Healy (Leinster)

Will Collier (Castres)

Hassane Kolingar (Racing 92)

Paul Alo-Emile (Stade Francais)

Camille Chat (Lyon)

John “Ricky” Riccitelli (Blues)

David Ribbans (Toulon)

Ruben van Heerden (DHL Stormers)

Josh Beehre (Blues)

Hoskins Sotutu (Blues)

Peter O’Mahony (Munster)

Sam Cane (Tokyo Sungoliath)

Shannon Frizell (Toshiba)

Lachlan Boshier (Wild Knights)

Backs:

Tawera Kerr Barlow (La Rochelle)

Santiago Arata Perrone (Castres)

Melvyn Jaminet (Toulon)

Josh Jacomb (Chiefs)

Peter Umaga-Jensen (Hurricanes)

Leicester Fainga’anuku (Toulon)

Mark Tele’a (Blues)

Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens (Highlanders)

Joe Marchant (Stade Francais)