Earlier this week, the Barbarians reported for duty in South Africa to begin preparing for this Saturday’s clash against the Springboks.
As many as 18 players with Test experience from across the world touched down in Cape Town, with the 23-man squad – which includes former Junior Springbok lock Ruben van Heerden of the Stormers – set to take on the Springboks for the first time on South African soil.
The first five players confirmed for the fixture were the Irish centurion trio of Cian Healy (prop), Peter O’Mahony (flanker) and Conor Murray (scrumhalf), while former All Black captain Sam Cane and his Kiwi teammate Shannon Frizell (both loose forwards) were also locked in.
Murray is no longer involved, but they have included five more capped All Blacks in Hoskins Sotutu (loose forward), Tawera Kerr-Barlow (scrumhalf), Peter Umaga-Jensen (utility back), Leicester Fainga’anuku (wing) and Mark Tele’a (wing).
Furthermore, Joe Marchant (England), Melvyn Jaminet (France), Santiago Arata Perrone (Uruguay), David Ribbans (England), Camille Chat (France), Will Collier (England), Hassane Kolingar (France), and Paul Alo-Emile (Samoa) are all capped at Test level.
The composition of the final matchday 23 will be named at 12:00 on Thursday.
Springboks excited to do battle with the Barbarians
Undoubtedly, Van Heerden is one player who the Springboks will be keeping an eye on, with the towering lock having recorded a URC league-leading 98% tackle success rate from 171 attempts during the regular season.
“Look, [Van Heerden] tackles like a machine, that we know, so he’ll be all over us. It will be interesting,” Rassie Erasmus told reporters on Tuesday.
“He’s been at an alignment camp last year with us, so we probably have to do our lineout calls in a bit of a huddle before we get there. We obviously trust him not to tell them our calls. The other lock [David Ribbans] is also South African…
“That team, if they get allowed to play the way they want – their thing is to play without pressure and entertain. Now, that can really backfire against you; I coached there.
“But what an opportunity for Ruben, because he’s been close to the squad but he’s never really got a look-in. So, he would love to play his socks off and show us, which is fantastic.”
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