Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus on Tuesday named four uncapped players in a quality team to face the Barbarians for the Qatar Airways Cup at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, in South Africa's opening match of the international season.
Prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye and flanker Vincent Tshituka have been named in a relatively experienced starting line-up. Hooker Marnus van der Merwe and prop Neethling Fouche will feature alongside a few Rugby World Cup-winners and seasoned campaigners on the replacements' bench.
Another notable inclusion in the starting team was Lood de Jager, who will partner up with Jean Kleyn in the engine room. The experienced lock is back for his first Test since the Springboks 2023 Rugby Championship clash against the All Blacks in New Zealand, which was his only Test in the last two seasons after a string of injuries.
Players from the Bulls, plus lock RG Snyman and flyhalf Handr Pollard, only joined the squad last week after their involvement in the United Rugby Championship and Gallagher Premiership finals. As a result, only Bulls utility forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels has been included in the match-23 from this group of players.
The squad assembled in Cape Town on Sunday after two weeks of training in Johannesburg and started their on-field preparations on Monday. They were also joined by utility forward Pieter-Steph du Toit, who has recovered from his injury, taking the size of the squad to 46 players.