Why Hendrikse, Van der Merwe will start for Springboks

Edwill van der Merwe (wing) and Jordan Hendrikse (flyhalf) are the two uncapped players named in the Springboks’ run-on team that faces Wales on Saturday.

Van der Merwe’s selection makes perfect sense in the absence of Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cheslin Kolbe, but that shouldn’t take anything away from his meteoric rise as he was initially left out of the Springboks’ planning camps earlier this year.

Hendrikse’s selection surprised some as he wasn’t always a starting flyhalf for the Lions last season, but the Springbok coaches looked further and made a bold call at 10.

So what is Rassie Erasmus’s thinking?

“We didn’t have a chance in 2020 to go further and add some more layers to our game. In 2021 we had the British & Irish Lions. We are now fortunate that Covid is no longer there,” Erasmus explains.

“If we just throw a bunch of young people in there, we don’t know if we’ve lost our base. This team was chosen based on the fact that we got ourselves where we were, but also because we started building on top of that.

“We have always judged Jordan on the way he has come through the ranks. He trained with us all week. It helps us to know that we didn’t just pick a guy whose team dropped out of the competition on Saturday and he only had one training session with us.

“(And with) Edwill, the way he played and trained all week, we were able to see things we wanted to see…

“They have settled here and understood what we are trying to do. We felt that if you put them in the mix with experienced guys around them, which we didn’t have the opportunity to do during Covid, you don’t throw them to the wolves.

“With experienced guys around them, they can take their work into their own hands. They don’t have to worry too much about leading. They can do what we chose them to do.”

PROFILES FOR THE NEW SPRINGBOK ROOKIES

PROFILE: JORDAN HENDRIKSE

Name: Jordan Hendrikse
Born: June 28, 2001
Age: 22
School: Glenwood High School
Position: Fly half
Height: 1.86m
Weight: 89kg
Springbok no.: TB
Tests played: 0
Tries scored: 0
Current club team: Lions
Test debut: South Africa v Wales at Twickenham Stadium in London, June 22, 2024

PROFILE: EDWILL VAN DER MERWE

Name: Edwill van der Merwe
Born: April 12, 1996
Age: 28
School: Paul Rose
Position: Wing
Height: 1.8m
Weight: 90kg
Springbok no.: TB
Tests played: 0
Tries scored: 0
Current club team: Lions
Test debut: South Africa v Wales at Twickenham Stadium in London, June 22, 2024

PROFILE: BEN-JASON DIXON

Name: Ben Jason Dixon
Born: April 29, 1998
Age: 26
School: Paul Rose
Position: Lock/flank
Height: 1.98 m
Weight: 109kg
Springbok no.: TB
Tests played: 0
Tries scored: 0
Current club team: Stormers
Test debut: South Africa v Wales at Twickenham Stadium in London, June 22, 2024

PROFILE: SACHA FEINBERG-MNGOMEZULU

Name: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Born: February 22, 2002
Age: 22
School: Bishops
Position: Flyhalf/centre/wingback
Height: 1.85m
Weight: 90kg
Springbok no.: TB
Tests played: 0
Tries scored: 0
Current club team: Stormers
Test debut: South Africa v Wales at Twickenham Stadium in London, June 22, 2024

TEAM LINEUPS FOR SATURDAY

South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain), 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Damian de Allende.

Wales: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Mason Grady, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 James Botham, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 James Ratti, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Eddie James, 23 Jacob Beetham.