#4. GERRIT-JAN VAN VELZE – SOUTH AFRICA
Number 8 and Captain
Jones said: “He’s a very interesting player – a big strong athletic South African back row. He seems to have exceptional leadership skills, much in the way that [Gary] Teichmann and [Francois] Pienaar did of the great South African back-rowers.
Embed from Getty Images“He compliments his athleticism with terrific lineout skills, he’s also got a very high work-rate, very good at supporting the ball carrier and like good number 8s he’s got a nose for the ball so tends to have very high involvements in the game.”
Where is he now? He has signed for Bath Rugby ahead of the 2022-23 English Premiership season following previous stints with Northampton Saints and Worcester Warriors.