Jean Kleyn To Start On Springboks Debut

Munster Rugby’s Jean Kleyn will make his South Africa debut against Australia on Saturday in Pretoria with RG Snyman named among the replacements.

Kick-off is at 4.05pm Irish time with live coverage on Sky Sports Action.

The game is one of three Rugby Championship fixtures for the Springboks this month as they face the All Blacks in Auckland next week before finishing the campaign at home to Argentina in Johannesburg at the end of July.

Kleyn, who earned five Ireland camps in 2019, was cleared to play for South Africa last month after an application filed by SA Rugby regarding the lock’s eligibility in terms of Regulation 8 and based on birth right.

The Munster man enjoyed a brilliant season and made the most appearances with 24 starts for the province, including 19 successive starts.

Snyman has made 23 appearances for South Africa and is in line for his first appearance since the 2019 Rugby World Cup final.

Springbok team to face Australia in Pretoria:
15 – Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz) – 83 caps, 65 pts (13t)
14 – Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 4 caps, 5 pts (1t)
13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 31 caps, 30 pts (6t)
12 – Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins) – 11 caps, 0 pts
11 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 7 caps, 35 pts (7t)
10 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 10 pts (5c)
9 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 24 caps, 45 pts (9t)
8 – Duane Vermeulen (captain, Ulster) – 65 caps, 15 pts (3t)
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 66 caps, 25 pts (5t)
6 – Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 10 caps, 0 pts
5 – Marvin Orie (DHL Stormers) – 11 caps, 0 pts
4 – Jean Kleyn (Munster) – uncapped for SA (Ireland 5 caps)
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 58 caps, 5 pts (1t)
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks) – 56 caps, 60 pts (12t)
1 – Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) – 71 caps, 5pts (1t)

Replacements:
16 – Joseph Dweba (DHL Stormers) – 4 caps, 0 pts
17 – Thomas du Toit (Cell C Sharks) – 15 caps, 0 pts
18 – Vincent Koch (Stade Francais) – 41 caps, 0 pts
19 – RG Snyman (Munster) – 23 caps, 5 pts (1t)
20 – Evan Roos (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 0 pts
21 – Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers) – 5 caps, 0 pts
22 – Grant Williams (Cell C Sharks) – 1 cap, 0 pts
23 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 27 caps, 36 pts (2t, 4c, 4p, 2d)