Penxe named in Boks Showdown squad
Flying Southern Kings wing Yaw Penxe took a huge leap forward in his burgeoning career when he was named in a 93-man draft squad for the Springbok Showdown in Cape Town on October 3.
Penxe, who caught the eye while playing for the Kings in the Guinness PRO14, joins 32 capped Springboks, and number of Blitzboks and recent Junior Boks, in a powerful array of players.
Another Kings player, Thembelani Bholi (now on loan at Griquas), has also been included in the squad.
Highly-rated 20-year-old former Kings loose forward Elrigh Louw, who left the Kings earlier in 2020 to join the Bulls, also gets an opportunity to impress at Newlands.
Fifty of the chosen players will end up in the two squads — Green and Gold — for the showdown match scheduled for Newlands in two weeks.
The Green team will be coached by Mzwandile Stick, with Rassie Erasmus as team commissioner, while Deon Davids and Jacques Nienaber will be in charge of the Gold squad. The players, all of whom are based in SA, will be drafted into two squads of 25 each by the respective team commissioners and coaches, with equal representation among all positions.
Each squad will be augmented by seven rookies, all of whom will return to their provinces the day before the match if they are not required to step into either squad as replacements.
The draft picks will take place live on SuperSport on Friday September 25, and the squads will gather in Cape Town on Sunday September 27.
“We’ve cast the net very wide for this match, which is a very exciting prospect — as Springbok coaches we can’t wait to start working with the players,” Erasmus said.
“To make this a meaningful exercise, the match-day squads will be only 25 players, but we’ve decided to increase each squad with the seven young guns for a number of reasons.
“First, we have to make provision should squad members pick up injuries or become ill and have to be replaced, in line with Covid-19 regulations.
“This match also provides us with a great opportunity for our younger players to rub shoulders with more experienced Springboks, especially since many of them missed out on Junior Springbok representation this year.”
Erasmus explained that the squad of 93 players were identified during Vodacom Super Rugby and the Guinness PRO14 earlier in 2020, and the 2019 Currie Cup, and that the younger players on the list had been part of SA Rugby’s Elite Player Development programme.
A number of players who are injured were not considered for the match, including World Rugby and SA Rugby Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit, as well as RWC-winner Sbu Nkosi and Aphelele Fassi, both of whom were in good form for the Cell C Sharks earlier in 2020.