Towering Western Province lock Salmaan Moerat has been named as the captain of the SA Schools side for an international series next month.
Moerat was a colossal presence in leading WP to the unofficial “title” at last week’s Craven Week with a 27-20 triumph over the Golden Lions at Kearsney College in Kwazulu-Natal.
The 18-year-old Moerat, who is also the Paarl Boys’ High skipper, guided his school to the No 1 ranking in South Africa as his team went on a 32-match unbeaten run since last year.
The 115kg, two-metre tall Moerat is renowned for his physical style of play and can play in both lock positions, and comes from a famous Paarl rugby family who have produced many generations of rugby stars.
One of the more recent Moerats to excel at a high level before Salmaan was his cousin Ebrahim “Baba” Moerat, a prop and hooker who was part of the SA Under-21 side under coach Jake White and captain Schalk Burger in 2003.
Salmaan Moerat, who is in matric at Paarl Boys’, was also part of the SA Schools side last year, and is one of 13 WP players in the squad, while there are seven players in total who participated in the 2015 international tournament – Moerat, centre Manual Rass, flyhalf Damian Willemse, No 8 Khanya Ncusane (all WP), utility forward PJ Steenkamp (Blue Bulls), centre Wandisile Simelane (Golden Lions) and No 8 Khwezi Mafu (Eastern Province).
An SA Schools A side was also named on Thursday and will be captained by Blue Bulls centre Louritz van der Schyff.
Both SA teams will face England, Wales, France and Italy in Cape Town and Paarl from August 12-20. The coaches and management of both SA teams still have to be named.
The tournament kicks off at City Park in Crawford on August 12, with the second leg at Bishops on August 16 and the final day of play at Paarl Boys’ High on August 20.
SA Schools Team
Emilio Adonis (wing, Bulls), Reece Bezuidenhout (prop, WP), PJ Botha (hooker, Lions), Ruan de Swardt (flyhalf, Bulls), Ben-Jason Dixon (lock, WP), Muller du Plessis (wing, WP), Richman Gora (scrumhalf, Griffons), Daniel Jooste (hooker, WP), Rewan Kruger (scrumhalf, Free State), Gianni Lombard (fullback, WP), Khwezi Mafu (No 8, EP), Mike Mavovana (wing, WP), Nathan McBeth (prop, Lions), Salmaan Moerat (captain, lock, WP), Khanya Ncusane (No 8, WP), Johan Neethling (prop, WP), Sihle Njezula (utility back, EP), JC Pretorius (flank, Pumas), Rikus Pretorius (centre, Free State), Manuel Rass (centre, WP), Sazi Sandi (prop, EP Country Districts), Charl Serdyn (flank, WP), Wandisile Simelane (centre, Lions), PJ Steenkamp (lock, Bulls), Muller Uys (flank, WP), Damian Willemse (flyhalf, WP).
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