Rassie Erasmus has revealed that a selfless gesture from Frans Malherbe saw Springbok teammate Vincent Koch switched into the starting lineup for his 50 Test on Saturday.

Koch will start in his 50 cap for the Springboks in the opening Test of the year against Wales at Twickenham.

A frequent member of the Bok Bomb Squad, the 34-year-old has played the majority of his 49 Tests to date as a substitute, with Saturday being just his 12th start in the green and gold since he made his debut in 2015.

However, Erasmus revealed after naming the team to face Wales on Tuesday that Koch was initially down to play from the bench, but a change was made after a friendly nudge from Malherbe.

“We announced the team with Frans at tighthead,” Erasmus said. “Five minutes later one of the players came to me and said it was Vincent’s 50th game.

“When Franna heard that, he said: ‘No ways’. A guy that works so hard and got so few chances to start and it is in your hands, the two players are so similar.

“He also plays with guys that he knows. He and Malcolm [Marx] normally go on together. So it is now a combination, but it wouldn’t have been a combination if it wasn’t for his 50th.

“That is how much it means to the players. We don’t want a player to come off the bench when it is his 50th game. Especially when there is very little to choose between him and Frans.

“It’s funny,” Erasmus added. “We’ve made a mistake twice before.

“We picked Lood de Jager and someone whispered in my ear the Thursday before the game it was Franco Mostert’s 50th game.

“It was so nice. I thought, ‘My goodness, he is going to play off the bench’.

“I went to Lood and said: ‘I made a mistake, I think Franco should start, it’s his 50th game’. Lood said he didn’t mind.

“However, I thought I’d let Lood start anyway. When we got to the huddle, Lood said he wanted to say something. He told the players it was Franco’s 50th game and he wanted Franco to start and he will play off the bench. So Lood just announced it.”

Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

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Src: sarugbymag.co.za