The Springbok wing, whose first and only Test appearance to date was in June 2024 against Wales in London, said that although he is expecting a tough outing, having Willie le Roux and Makazole Mapimpi at the back with him brought a sense of calm.
Le Roux will become only the eighth player in history to earn 100 Test caps for South Africa when he takes the field at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, while three players are in line to make their Test debuts off the replacements bench – Asenathi Ntlabakanye (prop), Cobus Wiese (utility forward), and Ethan Hooker (utility back) – in what will mark the Bok’s first match at the stadium since 2021.
“It’s a privilege being back in the team and to get the opportunity to play,” said Van der Merwe.
“My family drove to Gqeberha to support me, and it’s going to be very special to play in front of them. It’s exciting, although there are some nerves too, but I’m sure that will calm down as the game approaches.”
Elaborating on the significance of the occasion, he said: “It was always my biggest goal to play for the Springboks, and when I earned my first cap, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t just play one game, so it’s great that a year and three months later I’m looking forward to playing another game.”
Quizzed about whether having to compete against the likes of Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse for a place in the team placed pressure on him, Van der Merwe said it’s an honour to train with them each day.
“Personally I try to learn as much as I can from them and implement some of those tips and small things into my game,” he said, adding that the Boks are expecting Italy to come out firing after their morale-boosting performance last week, in which they suffered a 42-24 defeat in Pretoria.
“Both teams will look to make a step-up this week, and it’s great to have experienced players like Willie and Makazole playing with me in my second Test.
“The nice thing about how this team operates is that last week I was training against the starting team in the role of Italy, which helps a lot. But we still have to stop what they throw at us on the day, so we have a big job ahead this weekend.”
The match kicks off at 17h10 and will be broadcast on SuperSport and SABC.
