Jaden Hendrikse has been called up to the Springbok bench for Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test against Argentina in Nelson Mandela Bay following the withdrawal of Herschel Jantjies due to injury.
Jantjies pulled out of the match-day squad on Friday due to a hip pointer, prompting Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber to name the uncapped Jaden Hendrikse as the replacement scrumhalf.
The former Junior Springbok and current Sharks scrumhalf joined the Bok squad last week Monday in the build-up to the final Test against the British & Irish Lions – South Africa won 19-16 to clinch the Lions Series.
“Jaden has been very active at training since joining the camp, so we are confident that he will slot into the team and adapt to our structures with ease if he takes the field,” said Nienaber.
“He has been comfortable in the role at our training sessions, and it has been encouraging to see how he has stepped up at this level since he joined the squad.
“Jaden has also been in all of our team meetings, so he knows exactly what we are expecting from Argentina and how we want to play, and he was one of the players in the expanded squad of 25 that have been preparing for this match, so we believe he will be up for this challenge.”
The match kicks off at 5.05pm at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
Revised Springbok team:
15 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 10 caps, 5pts (1t)
14 – Sbu Nkosi (Cell C Sharks) – 11 caps, 40 pts (8t)
13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles, Japan) – 47 caps, 60 pts (12t)
12 – Frans Steyn (Toyota Cheetahs) – 68 caps, 141 pts (11t, 7c, 21p, 3d)
11 – Aphelele Fassi (Cell C Sharks) – 1 cap, 5pts (1t)
10 – Elton Jantjies (vice-captain – Pau, France) – 39 caps, 283 pts (2t, 63c, 49p)
9 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier, France) – 16 caps, 35pts (7t)
8 – Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers, England) – 3 caps, 0 pts
7 – Kwagga Smith (Yamaha Júbilo, Japan) – 10 caps, 5 pts (1t)
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Cell C Sharks) – 54 caps, 30 pts (6t)
5 – Lood de Jager (Sale Sharks, England) – 48 caps, 25 pts (5t)
4 – Eben Etzebeth (Toulon, France) – 89 caps, 15 pts (3t)
3 – Wilco Louw (Harlequins, England) – 13 caps, 0 pts
2 – Joseph Dweba (Bordeaux, France) – uncapped
1 – Ox Nché (Cell C Sharks) – 3 caps, 0 pts
Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears, Japan) – 37 caps, 30 pts (6t)
17 – Trevor Nyakane (Vodacom Bulls) – 46 caps, 5 pts (1t)
18 – Vincent Koch (Saracens, England) – 23 caps, 0 pts
19 – Marvin Orie (DHL Stormers) – 4 caps, 0 pts
20 – Marco van Staden (Leicester Tigers, England) – 5 caps, 0 pts
21 – Dan du Preez (Sale Sharks, England) – 4 caps, 0 pts
22 – Jaden Hendrikse (Cell C Sharks) – uncapped
23 – Morné Steyn (Vodacom Bulls) – 67 caps, 742 points (8t, 102c, 156p, 10d)
Photo: Gallo Images
