Salmaan Moerat is set to debut as captain of the Springboks this weekend.
His leadership will be put to the test as the team faces Portugal in the final match of the Castle Lager Incoming Series in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The 26-year-old rugby star hails from closer to Cape Town than most realise. Moerat, nicknamed Moon, grew up in Paarl, where he began his rugby journey.
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In high school, Salmaan played for Paarl Boys and eventually progressed to captaining SA Schools, the Junior Springboks and the DHL Stormers.
Come Saturday, Salmaan is set to captain the new-look Bok team, with a starting line-up of seven uncapped players and only four players who featured in last weekend’s match against Ireland.
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Commenting on his captainship, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus remarked that ‘Salmaan commands respect from his teammates, so we’d like to congratulate him on this achievement and we have no doubt that he’ll take on this responsibility as well as he has for the other teams he has led.’
According to News24, Erasmus went on to say that Salmaan has come through the SA Rugby ranks and the various teams he has led speak volumes about his quality as both a player and a captain.
The match will kick off at 5pm on Saturday, 20 July.
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Picture: Steve Haag Sports / Gallo Images