Rassie Erasmus has backed the seven debutants to see the Springboks bounce back from a disappointing result against Ireland when they tackle Portugal in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
Erasmus has named seven uncapped players in the matchday-23 for the historic first-ever Test against Portugal, which will also be the first time the Boks have been refereed by a woman, with Scotland’s Hollie Davidson taking the whistle.Former Junior Springbok captain Phepsi Buthelezi , Johan Grobbelaar and Jan-Hendrik Wessels will start, while Andre-Hugo Venter , Ruan Venter , Morne van den Berg and Quan Horn could be in line to make their Test debuts from the replacements’ bench.
“It was important for us to select a quality team with a bunch of experienced players, while at the same time delivering on our objective of growing our squad depth by naming a few debutants.” “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 DHL Stormers and Western Province, which speaks volumes about his quality as a player and a captain.”
“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,” said Erasmus.
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