South Africa Calls Up Uncapped Prop Zachary Porthen for Five-Match November Tour in Europe

Coach Rassie Erasmus named a 36-man Springbok squad plus a 10-player standby group (effectively 46 players) for a five-Test northern hemisphere tour on consecutive Saturdays starting 1 November at Wembley (Japan) and then facing France, Italy, Ireland and Wales. The surprise inclusion is 21-year-old Stormers tighthead Zachary Porthen, a former Junior Springbok captain and Elite Player Development product fast-tracked after impressive URC form and strong scrummaging. Several players return from injury or rejoin the set-up — Jean Kleyn, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Edwill van der Merwe, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp and Ben-Jason Dixon — while veterans including Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch have been omitted or moved to standby and others such as Faf de Klerk, Makazole Mapimpi and Willie le Roux were left out, signalling a possible changing of the guard. Erasmus’s selection prioritises front-row strength and future depth (with talk of reuniting the Bulls front row) within a 21-forward, 15-back group and negotiated releases for Japan-based players. The squad announcement follows South Africa clinching a second successive Rugby Championship with a 29-27 win over Argentina, with captain Siya Kolisi on 98 caps ahead of the tour.