Bok Watch: Players in the Spotlight v Wales

Quintin van Jaarsveld identifies five Springbok players who’ll be in the spotlight in Saturday’s Nations Championship clash against Wales in Durban.

ALSO READ: Best Boks vs Scotland: Pollard On Point In Pretoria.

Carlu Sadie

At 1.82m and 136kg, Sadie’s immense size and power are his bread and butter. It makes him a feared man and a dominant force at scrum time, yet his greatest strength is his perseverance.

It’s his heart of a champion that saw him come back from a life-threatening neck injury at the start of last year to being days away from scrumming down for the Boks as one of four uncapped players in the team.

He’s gone from being two millimetres from death, which is what his doctor told him following his devastating injury whilst playing for Bordeaux-Begles against Lyon, to being crowned a European champion with his French club and representing South Africa in the 80-31 win over the Barbarians in the non-Test encounter in Gqeberha in June.

Now, at the age of 29, Sadie will earn his Bok blazer and not just complete his comeback story but, hopefully, start the next chapter of his career.

Ruben van Heerden

Remarkable resilience has been the story of Van Heerden’s career as well. Unlike Sadie, he hasn’t had any serious injuries but rather, seriously bad luck.

He earned his first invitation to a Bok alignment camp in 2024 but seemingly slipped further and further down the national pecking order despite being consistently top-class for the Stormers.

One of the hardest-working players in the country, with a United Rugby Championship Tackle Machine award to prove it, it appeared that Van Heerden perhaps just wasn’t a good fit for the Boks.

However, now that the Boks are enduring an injury crisis in the second row, the 28-year-old got a chance to play for South Africa ‘A’ against Zimbabwe last month and will see his hard work pay off with a Bok cap on Saturday.

Vusi Moyo

The future is now.

That’s the message Rassie Erasmus sent out with the selection of Moyo at flyhalf (and that of the man to follow).

Both won the world championship with the Junior Boks last year and have been fast-tracked to make their full-fledged Bok bows at Kings Park.

Moyo, who matriculated from King Edward High School in 2024 and represented the South African Schools team the same year, is a bona fide blue-chipper.

He’s a natural ball player with zero fear, qualities he showcased against the Barbarians. The elegant way he set up Faf de Klerk for a try in that game highlighted what a can’t-miss prospect he is and why Erasmus feels comfortable blooding him on Saturday despite the youngster having hardly played for his senior side, the Sharks.

The Bok coach will also allow him to play his natural game within the framework of how he wants to approach and what he aims to get out of the duel against the Dragons.

Jaco Williams

A product of Glenwood High School, Williams has the world at his fast feet.

The young winger is lightning quick and has a nose for the try line. What makes him special is that he’s an opportunist and a tireless worker on top of that.

As far as being an opportunist goes, he’s a double agent in that he has consistently maximised every opportunity that’s come his way and is a finisher of note.

Just look at his stellar work for the Junior Boks and the Sharks. An injury to Siya Ndlozi early on in last year’s Under-20 World Championship saw Williams elevated to the starting line-up and he went on to score five tries in as many games to help the Junior Boks claim the crown for the first time since 2012.

Similarly, he’s been a revelation for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship and was memorably rewarded for his non-stop hustle when he scored his second try of the coastal derby right under Warrick Gelant’s nose to take the game away from the Stormers.

He also grabbed a try for South Africa ‘A’ in the 40-0 whitewash of the Sables, so one can’t help but expect big things from him on Saturday.

Herschel Jantjies

Cobus Reinach will start in the No. 9 jersey in Durban, but it’s Jantjies, the other scrumhalf in the matchday squad, who’ll have to make a statement if he wants to have any hopes of sticking around.

With the Boks boasting the likes of Reinach, De Klerk, Grant Williams, Embrose Papier, Morne van den Berg and Jaden Hendrikse among their halfback stocks, Jantjies’ Bok days seemed to be behind him.

However, with Van den Berg and Hendrikse injured, the veteran has been recalled and is set to earn his 25th Test cap almost three years after his last appearance in the Green and Gold.

Now plying his trade for Bayonne, he’ll look to make the most of his cameo come Saturday.