Lock Ruben van Heerden and fellow South African David Ribbans start in the engine room of a Peter O’Mahony-led Barbarians side against the Springboks on Saturday.
The Baa Baas face the world champions at Cape Town Stadium for the first time on South African soil, with O’Mahony and veteran Ireland prop Cian Healy bowing out of professional rugby after the fixture.
Loosehead prop Healy packs down with France hooker Camille Chat and Samoan scrum anchor Paul Alo-Emile in a heavyweight front row.
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Van Heerden, a standout for the Stormers, joins England’s Ribbans, while the back row boasts Ireland centurion O’Mahony, former All Blacks skipper Sam Cane and the powerful blindside Shannon Frizell at No 8.
The backline features New Zealand’s Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Josh Jacomb at halfback, with Peter Umaga-Jensen and Leicester Fainga’anuku in the midfield. Fellow Kiwis Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkins and Mark Telea start on the wings, with Frenchman Malvyn Jaminet at fullback.
The bench includes Santiago Arata, Joe Marchant and explosive Blues No 8 Hoskins Sotutu.
“This side is packed with experience and exciting players,” said Barbarians coach Robbie Deans. “The boys have connected really well, and we’re looking forward to expressing ourselves against the world champions.”
BARBARIANS – 15 Melvyn Jaminet, 14 Mark Telea, 13 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 12 Peter Umaga-Jensen, 11 Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkins, 10 Josh Jacomb, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Shannon Frizell, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 David Ribbans 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Cian Healy.
Bench: 16 Ricky Ricatelli, 17 Hassane Kolingar, 18 Will Collier, 19 Josh Beehre, 20 Hoskins Sotutu, 21 Santiago Arata, 22 Joe Marchant, 23 Lachlan Boshier.
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
