Telling week for hopefuls

Most of the 16 uncapped players included in the first Springbok alignment camp of the season taking place in Cape Town next week will have a final opportunity to show the Bok selectors what they are about in this weekend’s United Rugby Championship (URC) derbies.

The headline game is undoubtedly the massive derby between the Bulls and Stormers at Loftus, while the Lions and Sharks will be battling it out across the Jukskei at Ellis Park.

Fourteen of the 16 uncapped players should be in action this weekend for their respective franchises, with Cheetahs hooker Marnus van der Merwe the only player unlucky to not have a chance to impress.

Certain players will have a bit more pressure on them to impress than others, especially those playing in key positions or well-stocked positions.

As always the loose-forward battle is an enthralling one in South African rugby, with the country constantly churning out world-class loose forwards, so the uncapped trio of Celimpilo Gumede, Cameron Hanekom and Ruan Venter will hope to stand out again this weekend.

On the Bok front only Duane Vermeulen has retired in the loose forward group that went to the World Cup, while Elrigh Louw and Evan Roos are both back in the mix, so competition will be fierce.

Hooker is going to be an interesting position that should see plenty of competition as well, as the Boks have been extremely thin there.

At the World Cup Malcolm Marx and Bongi Mbonambi were the only specialist hookers, while Deon Fourie and Marco van Staden provided back-up.

It is thus a great opportunity for Johan Grobbelaar, Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Andre-Hugo Venter to show what they can do.

Grobbelaar or Wessels is likely to miss out, as in-form former Bok Akker van der Merwe is likely to be in the match-23, while Venter is battling with Joseph Dweba.

Other positions that players will be eager to impress in include flyhalf and scrumhalf, which should see plenty of competition.