The Free State legend André Venter and his son André-Hugo Venter are set to become the 16th father-son combination to play for the Springboks.

Yesterday the 22-year-old Stormers hooker was named on the bench for the Test against Portugal in Bloemfontein and he is on debut.

Other father and sons that donned the green-and-gold include Gysie and Ruan Pienaar, Flippie and Flip van der Merwe, Jaco and Cobus Reinach, and Felix and Morné du Plessis.

In each of the aforementioned cases the sons attended the famous rugby factory in Bloemfontein, Grey College.

For Venter the day will be more special as he will be making his Springbok debut along with his bosom buddy, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who has been his teammate from school since they were 11-years-old. The pair moved through the ranks at Grey and also played SA Schools together before splitting to join the Stormers and Bulls respectively.

Jan-Hendrik Wessels - Morgan Piek

The Springbok coach, Rassie Erasmus, told OFM Sport that he has no doubt it will be big occasions for Venter and his bosom buddy Jan-Hendrik Wessels.

“It is great, I think André and I played almost 30 Tests together as flankers, also six and seven,” said Erasmus.

“It does happen from time-to-time where a father and son will both play for the Springboks. It's also great for Jan-Hendrik Wessels, I think they played next to each other for a long time, and he is someone we're very excited about as well.

“I think every single player should be proud - it's a proper Test match in Bloemfontein, in front of a sold out crowd.

“With it being a sold out crowd, I think that's what will make it special for Jan-Hendrik and André-Hugo, and the other guys that were at Grey. For me it's special every single time.

“I always used to go and sit in the stadium and dream about playing for the Free State on this field. Then they rebuilt the pavilion and I remember the first match played there.

“So, for me it's special, and I guess even more for those guys.”

Saturday’s Test at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 17:00.

Springboks - 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels

Replacements -  16 André-Hugo Venter, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Morné van den Berg, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Quan Horn

Portugal - TBA

Morgan Piek OFM Sport