With SA Rugby reportedly considering a state-of-origin match at the end of the year, MARIETTE ADAMS selects a hypothetical team hailing from the Western Cape and Northern Cape.
READ: SA Rugby could consider ‘state-of-origin’ series
In the third part of this selection series at SARugbymag.co.za, we’ve opted for a couple of key criteria. Players will be picked on where they were born, while overseas-based players were also considered for selection.
For this piece, we’ve looked at players born in the Western Cape, a hotbed of rugby talent, while also including those who were born in the Northern Cape.
This follows on from the selection of an Inland XV on Sunday, and a combined Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal XV on Monday.
READ: State-of-origin match – Inland XV
This is a Test-laden lineup featuring 18 Springboks of whom 13 were part of the 2019 World Cup-winning squad.
In a potent all-Bok backline, World Cup-winners Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Handre Pollard and Herschel Jantjies all make the cut, with left wing Dillyn Leyds coming in as the only player who hadn’t played at the showpiece last year.
While the backline only boasts players from the Western Cape, a couple of players from the Northern Cape were selected in the star-studded forward pack. Stormers pair Juarno Augustus hails from Alexander Bay and lock JD Schickerling is from Calvinia.
Augustus forms a loose trio with World Rugby Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit and Nizaam Carr, who is a Cape Town local currently playing for the Vodacom Bulls.
Schickerling is picked in the second row along with Eben Etzebeth, and in the front row Clanwilliam native Jaco Visagie is flanked by Bok props Frans Malherbe and Steven Kitshoff.
The bench is also laced with talent as it includes six capped Boks (hooker Ashley Johnson, loosehead prop Thomas du Toit, tighthead prop Wilco Louw, scrumhalf Embrose Papier, flyhalf Damian Willemse and fullback Warrick Gelant), a Junior Springbok (lock Salmaan Moerat) and a Blitzbok (loose forward Hacjivah Dayimani) to serve as reinforcements.
READ: State-of-origin match – EC/KZN team
Hypothetical WC State-of-Origin XV – 15 Willie le Roux (Strand), 14 Cheslin Kolbe (Kraaifontein), 13 Jesse Kriel (Cape Town), 12 Damian de Allende (Milnerton), 11 Dillyn Leyds (Somerset West), 10 Handre Pollard (Somerset West), 9 Herschel Jantjies (Kylemore), 8 Juarno Augustus (Alexander Bay), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Cape Town), 6 Nizaam Carr (Cape Town), 5 JD Schickerling (Calvinia), 4 Eben Etzebeth (Cape Town), 3 Frans Malherbe (Paarl), 2 Jaco Visagie (Cape Town), 1 Steven Kitshoff (Paarl).
Subs: 16 Ashley Johnson (Wynberg), 17 Thomas du Toit (Cape Town), 18 Wilco Louw (Ceres), 19 Salmaan Moerat (Paarl), 20 Hacjivah Dayimani (Cape Town), 21 Embrose Papier (Clanwilliam), 22 Damian Willemse (Strand), 23 Warrick Gelant (Knysna).
Photo: Getty Images
