The Springbok starting XV to face the All Blacks at FNB Stadium is drawn from 15 different schools around the country.
That was spotted by X user James Styan, who wrote: “Isn’t that a fascinating stat? Only player from a Paarl/Stellenbosch school in the run on 15 is Kurt-Lee Arendse.”
Responding to the post, SA Rugby general manager of high performance Dave Wessels said: “I think 85% of current squad came through EPD [Elite Player Development] program but we must be careful that that isn’t a self fulfilling prophecy (ie we select them because they are in EPD).
“A number of Junior Boks from this year didn’t play Craven Week so we must never get tired of looking.”
AFRICA PICKS: Springboks vs All Blacks betting odds
SPRINGBOKS – 15 Cheslin Kolbe (Brackenfell High School), 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Paulus Joubert), 13 Jesse Kriel (Maritzburg College), 12 Damian de Allende (Milnerton High School), 11 Ethan Hooker (Westville Boys’ High), 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Bishops), 9 Cobus Reinach (Grey College), 8 Jasper Wiese (Upington High School), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Swartland High School), 6 Siya Kolisi (Grey High School) (c), 5 Ruan Nortje (Wonderboom High School), 4 Eben Etzebeth (Tygerberg High School), 3 Wilco Louw (HTS Drostdy), 2 Malcolm Marx (King Edward VII School), 1 Ox Nche (HTS Louis Botha).
