There will be a few Scotland players with mixed feelings when the national anthems are sung in Edinburgh against the Springboks on Saturday.
Growing up, Allan Dell from Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape and WP Nel from Loeriesfontein in the Northern Cape both dreamed of wearing the Green and Gold and singing Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika before kickoff in a major international rugby game.
The two props might get that opportunity this weekend.
But instead of singing the song from South Africa’s national anthem and wearing the Springbok on their hearts, they will have to sing Flower of Scotland while wearing the blue of the Scottish rugby union.
Another Cape-born player, No.8 Josh Strauss from Kuilsrivier, played against Fiji last weekend but wasn’t part of Scotland’s original 40-man squad for the November internationals.
Added to the mix, though, is former Stormers and Western Province centre Huw Jones, meaning there will be no shortage of knowledge of the South Africans in the Scottish camp.
And while Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus would like nothing more than to pick Scotland’s new “flowers”, he says they don’t hate the expats.
Allan Dell
Erasmus says of the SA contingent in the Scotland side: “I know WP [Nel] really well from the [Western] Province days - what they’ve done is just like CJ Stander at Ireland.
“There are a few guys coming through different teams who - in South Africa - we’ve lost them.
“It won’t be motivation [for us to beat them].
“The way the professional game is going, a number of South African players are playing abroad.
“I think it’s wonderful for guys like that.
“They are good friends [of ours] and while we’d like to beat them, we don’t hate them.”
Erasmus believes he knows what the Scots will bring to the party, having coached against Scotland coach Gregor Townsend during the Bok coach’s stint at Munster in Ireland.
And for this reason, he has warned his players not to underestimate their hosts.
Erasmus explains: “Gregor [Townsend] is a coach I have coached against for Munster v Glasgow four times in one season.
“So I know how he coaches and his style of coaching is definitely a fit team, organised team that can test you in all facets of the game. He knows the way we are coaching and we know him that’s why I know it will be tough.”