Aphiwe Dyantyi (Photo supplied by SA Rugby)

• After four years on the sidelines due to a drugs ban, former Springbok winger Aphiwe Dyantyi gets his first start in the Sharks’ URC clash against the Ospreys.
• The game against the Ospreys is a historic one as the first URC match to be played on English soil at the Twickenham Stoop in London on Friday.
• And in a rare occurrence, all four of the SA franchises – still short of their World Cup players – are on tour in Europe, which could be tricky as far as the weekend’s results go.  
• For more sports news, go to the News24 Sport front page.

The Springboks’ ongoing trophy tour of South Africa may be cause for celebration throughout the country, but for one man it’s a front and centre reminder of what could have been.

Thanks to a four-year drugs ban, Dyantyi has missed out on immortality as the Boks won not one but two World Cups in his absence, with a British and Irish Lions series victory thrown in between the world titles.

Dyantyi, who was World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year in 2018, has recently embarked on the winding road to picking up the pieces of a promising career stalled as soon as it had taken off, thanks to the adverse finding of three steroids – methandienone, methyltestosterone and LGD-4033 – in his urine in 2019.

Despite steadfastly maintaining that he never knowingly took the offending substances, Dyantyi was banned for four years, which triggered one of the more spectacular falls from grace in the game.

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As the game’s future, Dyantyi – who had scored six tries in his 13 Tests in 2018 – lost his place in the Bok team to the man destined to be the first Springbok to score a try in a World Cup final, Makazole Mapimpi, and suffered the ostracisation reserved for players who test positive for performance enhancing drugs.

Now with the Sharks since June, the 29-year-old is making the first steps back to redemption with his first start in four years in the Durban franchise’s United Rugby Championship (URC) match against the Ospreys on Friday night, having come off the bench in last weekend’s defeat to Irish club side Leinster.

Adding more significance to the gifted winger’s return is the historic nature of the clash as the SA and Welsh sides are the first teams to feature in a URC game held in England (the Twickenham Stoop in London, kick-off 21.35).

The Sharks, who have had the misfortune of drawing champions Munster and perennial champions elect Leinster in their first two matches, are desperate for their first win of the season. To that end, the 15th-placed Sharks have made four changes in total, with SA-born Scotland flanker Dylan Richardson starting at hooker, a position he now looks destined to play in, and tighthead prop Coenie Oosthuizen and number eight Sikhumbuzo Notshe also promoted to the starting line-up.

In a rare occurrence, all four of South Africa’s franchises are in Europe, with the table-topping Stormers up against Franco Smith’s Glasgow Warriors at the Scotstoun Stadium on Friday night and also kicking off at 21.35.

John Dobson’s 2022-23 runners-up are two bonus point wins from two matches into their pre-season vow, which is to knock Leinster off their perennial perch atop the URC standings come the end of the regular season.

The catch with the Warriors’ clash is that the hosts have never lost to a South African side in all eight of their home matches, with the home team in all 12 of their matches against local teams ending in victory to the home team.

Dobson has made a few alterations to his team for the fixture, moving number eight Evan Roos to blindside flank in a revamped loose trio also featuring Willie Engelbrecht at openside and the promising Keke Morabe at eighthman.

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The halfbacks have also been changed, with Herschel Jantjies and Jean-Luc du Preez coming in, while utility back Ben Loader partners the insanely talented Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu in the midfield in place of the concussed Ruan Nel.

Former Blitzboks star Angelo Davids replaces Loader on the right wing.

The Gauteng sides have Italian jobs on their hands, with the sixth-placed Bulls up against Zebre on Saturday (15.00 kick-off) and the Lions hosted by Benetton on Sunday (15.00).

Apart from handing former Stormers utility back Sergeal Petersen his debut on the left wing, Bulls director of rugby Jake White has also tinkered with his front row, where he is starting Simphiwe Matanzima, Akker van der Merwe and Wilco Louw, with Janko Swanepoel joining Ruan Nortje in the second row and Zak Burger replacing Embrose Papier at scrumhalf.

The Lions have named a nicely balanced side for their clash against Benetton, with loosehead prop Morgan Naude graduating from the bench to the starting line-up, while former Griquas openside flanker Hanru Sirgel starts his first game for the Joburg side to form a potent back row with Emmanuel Tshituka and Francke Horn.

And with Sanele Nohamba, Jordan Hendrikse, Edwill van der Merwe, Henco van Wyk and Quan Horn in the backs, the backline is loaded with threats for the 13th placed Lions.