Zachary Porthen will start from the bench for Springboks against the Barbarians.
The Springboks begin their 2026 season with a match against the Barbarians, which is designed to pump some oil into rusty machinery as the world champion juggernaut enters a five-month period in which they play 12 Tests, all against tier one opposition.
The first match is the long-awaited clash against England on July 4, and it is with that colossal showdown in mind that Rassie Erasmus has picked his squad for the Barbarians.
The coach’s multi-layered goals for the Nelson Mandela Bay encounter is to give game time to rusty players based in Japan (they have not played for some time); to do the same for URC players who have been idle for a while (the Sharks players); to give exposure to up-and-coming talent (Riley Norton, Vusi Moyo, Paul de Villiers, Zachery Porthen); and to experiment a little (Quan Horn at flyhalf).
All of this without using the 16 Springboks that are playing for the Bulls in the URC final.
