Will Springboks back URC stars to take on Barbarians?

It will be interesting to see if the Springboks decide to back some of their internationally inexperienced United Rugby Championship (URC) stars for their clash against the Barbarians, or play it safe by utilising them in the SA A team against Zimbabwe.

The season opening double header takes place at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Saturday, and it will be an important build-up to their Nations Championship home run of fixtures in July.

Bok coach Rassie Erasmus thus has some tough decisions to make about whether to give some up-and-coming players a run for the main team or ease them into action with the SA A side.

Certain players will be in need of some game time having not played in a while, including the Boks’ Japanese-based players, as well as players like captain Siya Kolisi and his fellow Sharks players who missed out on the URC playoffs.

So will they all play in the main squad against the BaaBaas to build some synergy, or will they be mixed across the two teams?

Some URC stars who definitely deserve a go in the Bok side include Lions fullback Quan Horn and loose forward Paul de Villiers, and Stormers loosehead prop Ntuthuko Mchunu.

But with Aphelele Fassi in the squad, as well as Kolisi, Ox Nche and Boan Venter, they may not be backed to start ahead of those established stars and some may have to accept a spot in the SA A team.

Hotly contested

Scrumhalf is also a hotly contested position, as Grant Williams is returning from injury, so will he start straight away?

Veteran Faf de Klerk has earned a recall and after playing just twice for the Boks off the bench against Italy and Georgia last year, it will be interesting to see if he is chosen for the main team, or if he will feature as a senior leader in the SA A side.

In-form rookie scrumhalves Haashim Pead and Nico Steyn from the Lions, and the Stormers’ Imad Khan, will all be hopeful of a spot in either side.

Then there is the question of whether the SA U20 players will be given what would be a surprising run, or if they have only played their part in the training camp and will be released to go join up with their Junior Springbok teammates in Cape Town ahead of the Junior World Championships kicking off in Georgia later this month.

Junior Bok captain Riley Norton, Oliver Reid, Danie Kruger, Siphosethu Mnebelele, Liam van Wyk, Vusi Moyo, Yaqeen Ahmed, Luan Giliomee, Markus Muller and Zekhethelo Siyaya are all in the wider Springbok training squad and it would be a surprise if they were risked this coming weekend.

In all, two very interesting squads are set to be named on Tuesday afternoon to take on the Barbarians and Zimbabwe, and whoever makes the main Bok team will likely have a shot at being named in the squad for the Nations Championship in July.