Vincent Koch will earn his 50th Test cap on Saturday when the Springboks take on Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.
It will be the Boks first international since lifting the Webb Ellis Cup in France last October after Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus named his matchday 23 to be captained by Pieter-Steph du Toit and which features four uncapped players.
Lions wing, Edwill van der Merwe, and teammate and flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse are the two uncapped players named in run-on team.
The other two new faces in the squad are lock, Ben-Jason Dixon, and utility back, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, are on the bench.
SA Rugby said a total of 10 players in the matchday squad featured in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final, while 16 players were members of the Rugby World Cup squad.
The Bok coach also welcomed back experienced hooker Malcolm Marx, who last ran out for the team in their opening World Cup encounter against Scotland before injuring his knee.
Erasmus opted for a five-three split in favour of the forwards on the replacements bench, which includes four Rugby World Cup winners – Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Grant Williams, and Damian de Allende respectively.
“This is an exciting playing squad and travelling group, and we are looking forward to seeing how the uncapped players step up at top international level and how we execute what we’ve been working on at training in the last few days and at the alignment camps,” said Erasmus.
Excitement all around as coach Rassie Erasmus names the first Bok squad for the year! ????
— Springboks (@Springboks) June 18, 2024
Four debutants and 50 up for a stalwart! ????????
More at the following link: https://t.co/7LSmiNQAfp#Springboks#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/VqkeFAEr00
The Springbok team to face Wales at Twickenham:
15 – Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 3 caps, 10 points (2t)
14 – Edwill van der Merwe (Emirates Lions) - Uncapped
13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 68 caps, 75 points (15t)
12 – Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins) – 16 caps, 0 pts
11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 41 caps, 130 points (26t)
10 – Jordan Hendrikse (Emirates Lions) - Uncapped
9 – Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) – 55 caps, 50 points (5t, 5c, 5pg)
8 – Evan Roos (DHL Stormers) – 5 caps, 0 points
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain - Toyota Verblitz) 77 caps, 40 points (8t)
6 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 40 caps, 35 pts (7t)
5 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat, Japan) – 73 caps, 15 points (3t)
4 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 119 caps, 30 points (6t)
3 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 49 caps, 5 points (1t)
2 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 64 caps, 85 points (17t)
1 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 27 caps, 0 pts
Replacements:
16 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 68 caps, 65 points (13t)
17 – Ntuthuko Mchunu (Hollywoodbets Sharks) 1 cap, 0 points
18 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 69 caps, 5 points (1t)
19 – Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 0 points)
20 – Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers) - Uncapped
21 – Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 8 caps, 10 points (2t)
22 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) - Uncapped
23 – Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 78 caps, 55 points (11t)
