Duane Vermeulen of South Africa during the 2023 Castle Lager Rugby Championship Springbok training session at Loftus Stadium Lukhanyo Am captained the SA A team in 2021 against the British and Irish Lions and has also captained the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship, while the 36-year-old Duane Vermeulen has strong leadership traits. Picture: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
The Springboks will be captained by either Duane Vermeulen or Lukhanyo Am in Saturday’s season opener against Australia in Pretoria.
All will be revealed on Tuesday but it is understood that with regular captain Siya Kolisi out of the picture until August, the Boks will be led on Saturday by either the rugged No8 or the experienced outside centre.
Am captained the SA A team in 2021 against the British and Irish Lions and has also captained the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship, while the 36-year-old Vermeulen has strong leadership traits and has been a pillar of support for Kolisi.
The team to play the Wallabies is expected to contain a number of back-up players because another squad departs on Tuesday for Auckland to prepare for the All Blacks game next week. Still, the team for Saturday will be powerful, with front runners expected to start in Pieter-Steph du Toit, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi and Ox Nche.
The second row will be the Munster combination of RG Snyman and Jean Kleyn, with the latter making his debut after SA Rugby reclaimed him from Ireland thanks to a new regulation that allows a player to play for the country of his birth if he has not played for his adopted country for at least three years.
For Snyman, it will be a poignant return to the green and gold. The 28-year-old has not played for the Boks since the 2019 World Cup because of a plague of injuries. He will be delighted that his return is at Loftus Versfeld, his old stomping ground when he was with the Bulls.
The halfback combination is likely to feature Stormers flyhalf Manie Libbok and Cobus Reinach at scrumhalf.
Flyhalf/fullback Damian Willemse is still making his way back from injury and is likely to the starting flyhalf in Auckland.
Faf Klerk will be traveling to New Zealand while last year’s in-form scrumhalf, Jaden Hendrikse is still on the injury list.
Kolisi’s absence means the Boks will have a new openside flank and the man in the running for this game is Bulls stalwart Marco van Staden. He will be in a loose trio with Vermeulen and Du Toit, with the latter coming off a strong season in Japan. Du Toit did not play a great deal in 2022 and he will be fired up to have a good start to the season.
Veteran Willie Le Roux is tipped to start at fullback where he will add stability to the youthful wings Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse
Springboks (possible): 15 Willie le Roux 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse 13 Am 12 Andre Esterhuizen 11 Canan Moodie 10 Manie Libbok 9 Cobus Reinach 8 Duane Vermeulen 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit 6 Marco van Staden 5 RG Snyman 4 Jean Kleyn 3 Frans Malherbe 2 Bonbi Mbonambi 1 Ox Nche.
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