Boland Kavaliers Currie Cup Squad 2026: Full 45-Man List

Boland are back in the big time for a second straight winter, and this time they arrive with a squad built for it. The Sanlam Boland Kavaliers have named a 45-man group for the 2026 Carling Currie Cup Premier Division — and it opens at home, against the Bulls, on Sunday 19 July at 15:05 at Boland Stadium in Wellington.

That fixture is the first of three consecutive home games to start the campaign: the Bulls first, then the Stormers on 26 July and the Pumas on 2 August, all in Wellington. Anyone who has watched winter rugby in the Boland knows exactly what that means. Wet ball, heavy ground, and a home side that has built its identity around thriving in it.

Head coach Hawies Fourie has assembled a squad that leans deliberately on experience. Sixteen of the 45 are 30 or older, the average age sits at 28.3, and the spine is full of players who have seen everything domestic rugby can throw at them. Captain Marlyn Williams, the 34-year-old lock, leads a tight-five that includes 37-year-old prop Alistair Vermaak and 35-year-old hooker Sidney Tobias — a front row of scars and know-how that younger Premier Division packs will not enjoy meeting in the Wellington mud.

The name that jumps off the sheet is Louis Schreuder. The former Sharks captain, now 35, gives Boland a scrumhalf with top-flight pedigree and a kicking game made for exactly the conditions his side will play in through July. Around him: Godlen Masimla (33), Chriswill September (31) and Bentley Geldenhuys complete the deepest position group in the squad — four experienced nines for a competition that will be decided in the trenches.

At flyhalf, Juan Mostert — formerly of Maties, the Bulls and Italian club Rovigo — headlines a quartet completed by Ashlon Davids, George Lourens and 21-year-old Thurlon Williams. In the pack, tighthead Laurence Victor arrived from the Cheetahs, hooker Llewellyn Classen from the Pumas, and loose forward Sibusiso Sangweni turned an SA Cup match-fee deal into a full contract on sheer work-rate — the kind of squad-building story that defines this union.

It is not all grey hairs. Twelve of the 45 are 25 or younger, headed by 20-year-old fullback Craig van Rensburg, and the physical profile is genuinely Premier Division: locks Jeandre Leonard (2.02m) and Johnrè Stopforth (2.01m) give Fourie a lineout with real height, while Michael Benadie brings 123kg of ballast alongside them.

The full Sanlam Boland Kavaliers Currie Cup squad for 2026:

Props: Alistair Vermaak, Andrew Beerwinkel, Dayan van der Westhuizen, Dewald Maritz, Doctor Booysen, Laurence Victor, Mthokozisi Gumede

Hookers: Joshua Eras, Llewellyn Classen, Sidney Tobias

Locks: Jeandre Leonard, Johnrè Stopforth, Marlyn Williams (captain), Michael Benadie

Loose forwards: Gift Dlamini, Keenan Opperman, Khwezi Mafu, Kwanda Dimaza, Sauliegh Arendse, Sibusiso Sangweni, Taine Booysen, Thurlow Marsh

Scrumhalves: Bentley Geldenhuys, Chriswill September, Godlen Masimla, Louis Schreuder

Flyhalves: Ashlon Davids, George Lourens, James Tedder, Juan Mostert, Thurlon Williams

Centres: Chris Smit, Durin Nasson, Erik Lambrecht, Jurick Lewis, Lunathi Nxele, Xavier Mitchell

Outside backs: Cornell Engelbrecht, Craig van Rensburg, Domenic Smit, Duren Hoffman, Jade Stighling, Jayden Bantom, Marcqiewn Titus, Renaldo Young

Boland ended a nine-year absence from the Premier Division in 2025 — their first top-flight campaign since 2016 — and qualifying again through the SA Cup means this is no cameo. Backed by the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport partnership and playing in front of a Wellington crowd that has waited a decade for weeks like these, the Kavaliers will fancy their home run start against anyone.

Every player above now has a profile on the Boland Cavaliers team page, with photos, positions and match involvement tracked all season. Full Currie Cup 2026 fixtures, results and the live log — every kick-off in SA time — are live on Octafield now.