Scarlets hooker Marnus van der Merwe has capped an incredible first season in West Wales by being named in South Africa’s 54-man training squad for the opening stages of the international season, which kicks off on June 28 against the Barbarians, followed by the Castle Lager Incoming Series.
Marnus, who was this week named in URC’s Elite XV after an outstanding debut campaign for the Scarlets, is one of nine uncapped players included in Rassie Erasmus’s squad.
The players will assemble in Johannesburg on Sunday and begin their on-field preparations on Monday.
The Springboks will meet the Barbarians in their first encounter on South African soil in Cape Town on Saturday, June 28 where they will play for the Qatar Airways Cup, which will be followed by back-to-back Tests against Italy in Pretoria and Gqeberha on July 5 and 12, and Georgia in Nelspruit a week later on July 19.
