By Mike Greenaway.
Ruben van Heerden has been called up to the Springbok squad and will join the team in Johannesburg on Wednesday as they continue their preparations for their season opener against the Barbarians on Saturday next week.
The Boks’ marquee clash against the Baa-Baas (3pm kick-off) will be preceded by an enticing curtain-raiser between the South Africa ‘A’ team and Zimbabwe (12pm) at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on 20 June.
The 28-year-old former Junior Springbok lock, who has been a monumental figure in the Stormers’ engine room throughout the United Rugby Championship campaign, replaces Salmaan Moerat in the squad. The latter has unfortunately been released from the camp after sustaining an injury.
Van Heerden earned his 50th cap for the Stormers this season, adding to a nomadic and impressive career that has also seen him represent the Bulls, the Sharks, and English Premiership outfit Exeter Chiefs.
Van Heerden’s national call-up is richly deserved. He has long been one of those domestic stalwarts who has missed out on an international breakthrough — not due to a lack of raw talent, but simply because he has been desperately unlucky to play in an era where the Springboks possess unprecedented, world-class depth in the second row.
The physical lock came agonisingly close to a national summons during his stint in Durban — where he racked up 42 caps for the Sharks — but it was always a case of so close and yet so far.
Meanwhile, loose forward Phepsi Buthelezi and tighthead prop Carlu Sadie, who were drafted into the training squad on Monday, have already reported for duty in Johannesburg.
Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus and assistant coach Mzwandile Stick — who will take the tactical reins of the South Africa ‘A’ side — are scheduled to name their respective match-day squads for the double-header early next week.