Bok wait finally over for Lood de Jager after two-year injury nightmare

If the objective is to hit the deck running, there is perhaps no bigger challenge than a match against the team renowned and revered for their unrestrained exploration of rugby's wide open spaces.

The Springboks' clash against the Barbarians in Cape Town on Saturday marks the return of Lood de Jager, a player who has missed large chunks of the last five or so seasons. The lock has been beset by injury, but has finally been restored to fitness to represent the Boks for the first time since they lost to New Zealand in Auckland in 2023.

Having been such a key figure in the Boks' march in the 2019 Rugby World Cup before being injured in the final, missing out on the 2023 event came as a huge blow for the 30-year-old.

Though he was in the Bok training group last year, a rotator cuff injury kept him sidelined.

But he has learnt to deal with setbacks. A rare heart condition, pericarditis, kept him out of the 2023 World Cup, a dislocated shoulder saw him leave the field in the 2019 final in Yokohama before he injured the same shoulder while playing for the Sale Sharks. Upon his return he suffered a freak training ground accident that saw him tear knee ligaments and fracture his fibula.

Thankfully De Jager is up and running and has the opportunity on Saturday to pit his skills against his coach at the Saitama Wild Knights, Robbie Deans.

Bok head coach Rassie Erasmus is thrilled to have his line-out kingpin back. “Lood is in great form and hopped straight back into the thick of things with the intensity and work rate we are used to seeing him deliver, and we are thrilled to see him and players like Faf (de Klerk) and Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu), who missed a large chunk of last season, back from injury.”

Apart from his line-out prowess, De Jager's large frame helps provide ballast to the Bok scrum, while the same characteristics help provide thrust to their maul.

The Bok team features props Asenathi Ntlabakanye and Neethling Fouche as well as hooker Marnus van der Merwe and flank Vincent Tshituka, who are all uncapped.

Ntlabakanye and Tshituka are in the starting team, while the Scarlets' Van der Merwe and veteran Stormer Fouche have seats reserved on the bench.

Ntlabakanye has been a steady performer for the Lions in the United Rugby Championship, as has the Stormers' Fouche who last year came close to being capped. Ntlabakanye's large frame enables him to breach the gainline but Saturday's fast-paced environment will likely see Fouche replace him soon after the break.

Van der Merwe has been part of large Bok training groups but his inclusion for Saturday's game brings him closer to realising his Test dream. Ditto Tshituka, who represented a shadow Bok team post the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tshituka had to gain South African citizenship before being declared eligible for the Boks.

“They have all slotted into our systems really well and have a good understanding of what we want to do in this match, while it also presents us with a fantastic opportunity to see how they measure up against a handful of experienced players in the Barbarians team,” said Erasmus about the uncapped players. “This may not be an official Test match, but we are approaching it as such, and a good result will hopefully set us on course for an exciting season.

“Asenathi, Vincent, Neethling, and Marnus have all been impressive in training and for their respective franchises this season, and we hope to see them replicate those quality performances in this match.”

Perhaps fitting the festival occasion, Feinberg-Mngomezulu will start at flyhalf, while the equally free-spirited Morne van den Berg will don the No 9 jersey.

Though Saturday's international won't have Test match status it will be a real test for Mngomezulu in how he remains within the dictates of the Bok game plan.

The team features established faces in the centres and outside backs division. Wings Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse, centres Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende and to a lesser extent fullback Aphelele Fassi have seen it all before.

Players from the Bulls, as well as lock RG Snyman and flyhalf Handré Pollard, only joined the squad last week after their involvement in the URC and Premiership finals respectively. As a result, only Bulls utility forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels has been included in the match-23 from this group of players.

Utility forward Pieter-Steph du Toit, who has recovered from his injury, has also joined the wider group.

Saturday's clash is a warm-up match before the two-Test series against Italy in Pretoria and Gqeberha next month.

Springbok team to play the Barbarians

Aphelele Fassi (Sharks); Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls); Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers), Morne van den Berg (Lions); Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale Sharks), Vincent Tshituka (Sharks), Siya Kolisi (captain, Sharks); Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Jean Kleyn (Munster); Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Ox Nche (Sharks).

Substitutes: Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls), Neethling Fouche (Stormers), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs); Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Manie Libbok (Stormers), André Esterhuizen.