Cape Town – Salmaan Moerat will become the 66th Springbok captain in Saturday’s one-off Test against Portugal in Bloemfontein (5pm kickoff).
But the world champions have also been rocked by a number of injuries to key players who will either miss out or be in a race against time to be fit for the opening Rugby Championship clash against Australia on August 10 in Brisbane.
Erasmus said at a press conference in Bloemfontein on Tuesday that Franco Mostert “broke his leg” against Ireland last weekend and will be out for six weeks; hooker Malcolm Marx has a “little bit of a tibia fracture when he got injured (in the croc roll incident)”, Pieter-Steph du Toit is out for four to six weeks with an unspecified injury; Edwill van der Merwe is also out for six weeks; and Cheslin Kolbe may only return for the second Australia Test on August 17.
Stormers lock Moerat was named at No 4 by Erasmus on Tuesday, and has long been groomed to lead the national team, having captained Paarl Boys’ High, Western Province and South Africa at schools level, as well as the Junior Springboks and the Stormers.
“Salmaan commands respect from his teammates, so we’d like to congratulate him on this achievement, and we have no doubt that he’ll take on this responsibility as well as he has for the other teams he has led,” Bok boss Erasmus said on Tuesday.
“He has come through the SA Rugby ranks and he went on to captain the Junior Springboks and SA Schools teams, as well as the Stormers and Western Province, which speaks volumes about his quality as a player and a captain.”
The 26-year-old from Paarl will take charge of a much changed, but fairly experienced side from the one that went down 25-24 to Ireland in Durban last weekend, where he was an unused substitute.
There are three debutants in the starting XV for the Free State Stadium – openside flank Phepsi Buthelezi, hooker Johan Grobbelaar and loosehead prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels – while there are four more potential newcomers on the bench in the shape of hooker André-Hugo Venter, flank Ruan Venter, scrumhalf Morné van den Berg and fullback Quan Horn.
But there is considerable experience throughout the side that will hope to produce some thrilling rugby for a capacity crowd, with Kurt-Lee Arendse, Lukhanyo Am, André Esterhuizen, Makazole Mapimpi, Manie Libbok and Cobus Reinach joining Aphelele Fassi in the backline.
RG Snyman and Thomas du Toit are the only forwards with 18 or more Test caps, but there is a wealth of talent in the shape of No 8 Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon and Buthelezi as the loose trio.
Wessels will also want to prove that the gamble Erasmus has taken on him at No 1 – when he has mainly operated at hooker for the Bulls over the last few years, having starred at prop as a junior – is worth it.
“Most of the so-called younger players have been exposed to Test rugby in one way or another by either playing against Wales or Ireland, or have been around the squad – so they are all well aware of the standards we expect on the field and the way we do things,” Erasmus said.
“All of the uncapped players, apart from Ruan Venter, were also members of our training squad in June, and we were very impressed with the way they fitted into our structures and their work ethic.
“We have full faith in their abilities, and we’re excited to see what they offer on the field on Saturday.
“The squad also includes a few RWC winners and experienced campaigners, who will play a vital role in guiding the young players and keeping things calm in the pressure situations.”
Springbok Team
15 Aphelele Fassi (Sharks) – 4 caps, 10 points (2t)
14 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls) – 17 caps, 70 points (14t)
13 Lukhanyo Am (Sharks) – 35 caps, 30 pts (6t)
12 André Esterhuizen (Sharks) – 17 caps, 0 pts
11 Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks) – 42 caps, 135 points (27t)
10 Manie Libbok (Stormers) – 14 caps, 87 pts (1t, 26c, 10p)
9 Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 32 caps, 65 pts (13t)
8 Evan Roos (Stormers) – 6 caps, 0 points
7 Ben-Jason Dixon (Stormers) – 1 cap, 0 points
6 Phepsi Buthelezi (Sharks) - uncapped
5 RG Snyman (Leinster) – 36 caps, 10 points (2t)
4 Salmaan Moerat (captain, Stormers) – 6 caps, 0 points
3 Thomas du Toit (Bath) – 18 caps, 0 pts
2 Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls) – uncapped
1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls) – uncapped
Replacements:
16 – André-Hugo Venter (Stormers) – uncapped
17 – Ntuthuko Mchunu (Sharks) – 2 caps, 0 points
18 – Trevor Nyakane (Sharks) – 67 caps, 5 pts (1t)
19 – Ruan Venter (Lions) – uncapped
20 – Elrigh Louw (Bulls) – 3 caps, 0 points
21 – Morné van den Berg (Lions) – uncapped
22 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers) – 3 caps, 7 points (2c, 1p)
23 – Quan Horn (Lions) – uncapped