While it’s no surprise that Cheslin Kolbe finished first among SA Rugby magazine readers as the player they’re most excited to see in full flight on South African soil, second place went to much more of a wildcard.

Kolbe was one of 18 Rugby World Cup 2019 winners included in the SA A team picked to host the British & Irish Lions at Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday.

It’s been a long wait for Kolbe fans as the Boks have not played a serious Test match since Kolbe wrong-footed England flyhalf Owen Farrell to score in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final.

Bok supporters know what they’re going to get out of the electric finisher, and they want more of it! Presented with the starting XV, and the option to pick the Bomb Squad, 32% of readers voted for Kolbe.

While the Bomb Squad, loaded with the likes of Malcolm Marx, finished sixth and garnered less than 6% of the vote, the runner-up was a surprise.

Morne Steyn, a surviving veteran of the 2009 Lions series, came in third with 12% and edged rookie hooker Joseph Dweba (11%) before a big drop to fifth place where singed centre Damian de Allende scored 7%. But it was Jasper Wiese, the wildcard addition to the Bok squad from the Leicester Tigers, who claimed second place with 14% of the vote.

The tempestuous No 8 will be eager to reward this interest with a barnstorming performance for South Africa A against the Lions at Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday night.