The United Rugby Championship semi-final between the Bulls and the Warriors in Edinburgh on Saturday could almost double as an international between Scotland and South Africa, kick-off at 3.30pm.
Murrayfield is a famous Test-match venue, and both teams are bursting with current internationals.
Warriors coach Franco Smith has named 13 Scotland players in his lineup: captain Kyle Steyn, Stafford McDowall, Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Rowe, George Horne, Jack Dempsey, Rory Darge, Matt Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Zander Fagerson, Rory Sutherland, Jamie Dobie, and Adam Hastings, plus a Wallaby (Sam Talakai), and a Tongan (Sione Vailanu).
The Bulls named 16 Springboks — Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, Handre Pollard, Embrose Papier, Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Ruan Nortje, Marcell Coetzee, Elrigh Louw, Cameron Hanekom, Marco van Staden, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Wilco Louw, Nizaam Carr and Cobus Wiese.
And like a Test match, this showdown will come down to inches. One player that could make a difference is South Africa’s URC Player of the Tournament, Embrose Papier, who has scored a staggering 11 tries this season thanks to his eye for a gap and his blistering space.
The 29-year-old has also had five try assists, 15 clean breaks, and beaten 25 defenders.
Papier received the award following a superb campaign in which he emerged as one of the competition’s standout performers and played a key role in guiding the Bulls to the URC semi-finals.
“We’re proud of Embrose,” said coach Johan Ackermann. “He’s shown why he got the award for just consistently playing well over the season.
“As a team, we had some ups and downs, but he played consistently well, and as the season progressed, he just got better and better. Hopefully, he has another try in him in the semi-final.”
Teams
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Steyn (captain), 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Dan Lancaster, 9 George Horne), 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Alex Samuel, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 1 Patrick Schickerling Replacements: 16 Seb Stephen, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Jare Oguntibeju, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Adam Hastings
Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortjé, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Marco van Staden, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Jeandré Rudolph, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Nizaam Carr.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland) Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland) TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
