Duhan van der Merwe, brother of Springbok hooker Akker, is the only South African-born player in the British and Irish Lions squad announced on Thursday.
The Lions’ tour to South Africa is scheduled to kick off on July 3 with a match against the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium.
And for their trip, coach Warren Gatland, inset, has named a 37-man squad, led by Wales lock Alun Wyn-Jones, with veteran Ireland flyhalf and 2018 World Player of the Year Johnny Sexton being the most notable absentee.
As for Van der Merwe, he is one of five backline players from Scotland in the squad –having made his debut for his adopted country in October last year.
Since then the 25-year old winger has gone from strength to strength, finishing this year’s Six Nations tournament as the top try-scorer with five to take his overall tally to eight in 10 Tests.
Of his squad, New Zealander Gatland says: “We believe we’ve picked a squad capable of winning a Test series in South Africa.
“We saw some outstanding performances in the recent Six Nations, so competition for places has been tough with some incredibly tight calls to make.
“However, we are very happy with the squad we have assembled and look forward to meeting up in Jersey in just over a month’s time to start our preparation to take on the World Champions.”
The Originals, 1888
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) May 6, 2021
The Invincibles, 1974
The heroes of 1997
The Unbeaten Tours of 2013, 2017
Over to you Class of 2021 - Time to write a new chapter in our history 🦁
Meet our #LionsRugby 2021 squad...🤩 pic.twitter.com/T5ujqOB0Lr
British and Irish Lions squad
Backs (16): Josh Adams (Wales), Bundee Aki (Ireland), Dan Biggar (Wales), Elliot Daly (England), Gareth Davies (Wales), Owen Farrell (England), Chris Harris (Scotland), Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Conor Murray (Ireland), Ali Price (Scotland), Louis Rees-Zammit (Wales), Finn Russell (Scotland), Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland), Anthony Watson (England), Liam Williams (Wales).
Forwards (21): Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), Jack Conan (Ireland), Luke Cowan-Dickie (England), Tom Curry (England), Zander Fagerson (Scotland), Taulupe Faletau (Wales), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Jamie George (England), Iain Henderson (Ireland), Jonny Hill (England), Maro Itoje (England), Alun Wyn Jones (Wales, captain), Wyn Jones (Wales), Courtney Lawes (England), Ken Owens (Wales), Andrew Porter (Ireland), Sam Simmonds (England), Rory Sutherland (Scotland), Justin Tipuric (Wales), Mako Vunipola (England), Hamish Watson (Scotland).