Grey College get yet another Springbok old boy

Boan Venter, Marnus van der Merwe, and Neethling Fouche will all make their Springbok debuts against Georgia in Nelspruit on Saturday.

The trio will become Springboks #950, #951 and #952.

Kick-off is at 17:10.

Meanwhile, double Rugby World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi returns from injury to take over the captaincy for first time this season in an exciting squad named by Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus for the final Incoming Series match at the Mbombela Stadium.

Venter, who was called up to the squad in June as injury cover at prop, will start in completely new front row with fellow prop Fouche and hooker Van der Merwe, who both had their first taste of Springbok rugby in the team’s 54-7 victory against the Barbarians, while Kolisi features in a loose trio with Pieter-Steph du Toit and Cobus Wiese after missing the last three matches due to niggles.

Rugby World Cup winners

The three uncapped front rankers will increase the number of newly capped players this season to seven after Vincent Tshituka (flanker), Wiese, Asenathi Ntlabakanye (prop), and Ethan Hooker (utility back) all made their Test debuts against Italy.

Erasmus’s team features only five players who started last week, and eight in total from the match-23 that defeated Italy 45-0 in Gqeberha.

The inclusion of Kolisi and Venter in the squad, meanwhile, increases the size of the group used by Erasmus so far this season to 46 players, with the matchday squad featuring 15 Rugby World Cup winners.

The five players who retained their places in the starting line-up are Edwill van der Merwe (wing), Canan Moodie (utility back), Grant Williams (scrumhalf), Du Toit, and Ruan Nortje (lock), while Conus Wiese and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (flyhalf) are promoted from the bench to starting team, with Thomas du Toit (prop) starting among the replacements.

Edwill van der Merwe, who scored two tries in his second match in the green and gold last week, has been named in a playmaking back three with Kurt-Lee Arendse and Aphelele Fassi, while Moodie joins forces with Damian de Allende in the midfield, and Williams pairs up with Feinberg-Mngomezulu at halfback.

Up-front, apart from a new-look front row and rejigged loose trio, Eben Etzebeth will link up with Ruan Nortje in the engine room.

Erasmus named a five-three split in favour of the forwards on the replacements bench, where Thomas du Toit, Vincent Koch (both props) and Bongi Mbonambi (hooker) will serve as the impact front row, along with RG Snyman (lock) and Kwagga Smith (loose forward).

Faf de Klerk (scrumhalf), Handre Pollard, and Damian Willemse (both utility backs), in turn, will provide backline cover.

Another Grey College Springbok

Neethling Fouche’s inclusion will give Grey College their 49th Springbok of all time as the look to close the gap on Paul Roos who lead the way with 56 Springbok old boys.

Meanwhile, the Test will have extra significance for Marnus van der Merwe who was born in Mbombela and attended Hoërskool Nelspruit.

He will become Hoërskool Nelspruit’s sixth Springbok after Nico Wegner, Schutte Bekker, Duane Vermeulen, Marnitz Boshoff and team-mate on Saturday, Faf de Klerk, although De Klerk didn’t matriculate from the school, but rather moved to Waterkloof.

Finally, Boan Venter was schooled at Hoërskool De Aar and will become the Northern Cape school’s first ever Springbok.

Schools with 10 or more Springboks (prior to kick-off):

Below, a full list of all the SCHOOLS the Springbok squad for Saturday attended:

Paul Roos and Paarl Gimnasium lead the way with two players apiece. Such is the diverse nature of rugby played across South Africa, no other school has more than one player.

Score prediction for Saturday’s Springboks vs Georgia Test?

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