Lood de Jager to return as 153kg prop one of four set for first Bok appearances

Lood de Jager is set to make his first appearance for South Africa since the 2023 Rugby Championship after being named in the Springboks starting XV to take on the Barbarians on Saturday in Cape Town.

An injury-plagued few years robbed the 2019 World Cup winner from helping the Boks defend their crown in 2023, but will make his comeback in an XV that contains two uncapped players.

Lions tighthead Asenathi Ntlabakanye and Sharks flanker Vincent Tshituka are the two uncapped players in the starting XV, while Stormers tighthead Neethling Fouche and Scarlets hooker Marnus van der Merwe could make their first appearances from the bench.

Head coach Rassie Erasmus said: “We’ve said over the last 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 Castle Lager Incoming Series, while 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.

Fixture

Rugby Union Hybrid Friendlies

South Africa

54 - 7

Full-time

Barbarians

All Stats and Data

“With a handful of players having participated in the Vodacom URC Grand Final and Handre in the Gallagher Premiership Final, they lost out on over a week of training, so 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.”

On his uncapped quartet, Erasmus said: “They have all slotted into our systems really well and have a good understanding of what we want to do in this match, while it also presents us with a fantastic opportunity to see how they measure up against a handful of experienced players in the Barbarians team.

“This may not be an official Test match, but we are approaching it as such, and a good result will hopefully set us on course for an exciting season.

“Asenathi, Vincent, Neethling, and Marnus have all been impressive at training and for their respective franchises this season, and we hope to see them replicate those quality performances in this match.”

Springboks XV
15 Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 11 caps, 35 points (7t)
14 Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath) – 40 caps, 111 points (18t, 3c, 5p)
13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 79 caps, 90 points (18t)
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 87 caps, 55 points (11t)
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 24 caps, 90 points (18t)
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 8 caps, 52 points (14c, 8p)
9 Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions) – 2 caps, 0 points
8 Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale Sharks) – 14 caps 10 points (2t)
7 Vincent Tshituka (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – uncapped
6 Siya Kolisi (captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 92 caps, 60 points (12t)
5 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 66 caps, 25 points (5t)
4 Jean Kleyn (Munster) – 7 caps, 0 points
3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Emirates Lions) – uncapped
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 76 caps, 105 points (21t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 39 caps, 0 points

Replacements
16 Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets) – uncapped
17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 3 caps, 5 points (1t)
18 Neethling Fouche (DHL Stormers) – uncapped
19 Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 78 caps, 20 points (4t)
20 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 51 caps, 45 points (9t)
21 Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 39 caps, 70 pts (14t)
22 Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 19 caps, 98 pts (1t, 30c, 11p)
23 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 19 caps, 0 points