Cape Town - Six interesting facts about the Springbok team to play against the Barbarians at London’s Twickenham Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 17:30 SA time):
- The total number of Super Rugby caps in the starting line-up are 611 - of this, 231 caps are in the backline with 380 among the forwards. The combined Super Rugby caps on the bench are 317. The average Super Rugby caps for the match-23 are 40.
- The youngest player in the 23-man squad is Jean-Luc du Preez (21y, 2m), while the oldest team member is Tendai Mtawarira (31y, 3m).
- The tallest player in the squad is RG Snyman (2.06m) and the shortest is Rudy Paige (1.69m).
- Six players will play in the Springbok jersey for the first time - RG Snyman, Roelof Smit, Jamba Ulengo, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Francois Venter and Sergeal Petersen. Furthermore, Lizo Gqoboka, Jean-Luc du Preez and Tian Schoeman are the uncapped players on the bench who might also have this honour.
- It will be the first time that Pat Lambie will captain the Springboks in a match.
- Any uncapped players in the squad, will only become a capped Springbok when they appear in a Test and, until such time, these players will be regarded as Springbok tourists.
READ: Boks to down BaaBaas by 7 - bookies
Teams:
South Africa
15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Pat Lambie (captain), 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Beast Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Ruan Combrinck
Barbarians
15 Melani Nanai (Blues), 14 Matt Faddes (Highlanders), 13 Seta Tamanivalu (Crusaders & New Zealand), 12 Richard Buckman (Highlanders & Panasonic), 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro (Waratahs, Panasonic & Australia), 10 Robert du Preez (Stormers), 9 Andy Ellis (Crusaders, Kobelco Steelers & New Zealand), 8 Luke Whitelock (Highlanders & New Zealand), 7 Jordan Taufua (Crusaders), 6 Brad Shields (Hurricanes), 5 Michael Fatialofa (Hurricanes), 4 Martin Muller (Lions), 3 Paddy Ryan (Waratahs & Australia), 2 Akker van der Merwe (Lions), 1 Reggie Goodes (Hurricanes)
Substitutes: 16 Andrew Ready (Reds), 17 Schalk van der Merwe (Montpellier), 18 Toby Smith (Rebels & Australia), 19 Sam Carter, (Brumbies & Australia), 20 Ruan Ackermann (Lions), 21 Nic Stirzaker (Rebels), 22 Richard Mo’unga (Crusaders), 23 Luke Morahan (Force & Australia)