After Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus unveiled his 37-man squad for the final four Tests of the season, one name stood out among the six uncapped players handed their first senior national call-ups: Emmanuel Tshituka.

Tshituka, alongside Yaqeen Ahmed, Sebastian de Klerk, Luan Giliomee, Markus Muller and Riley Norton, will join Erasmus’s team for the second leg of the Nations Championship this month. What makes his story and inclusion in the team interesting and, to a certain extent, thought-provoking is that he is Congolese and has an elder sibling, Vincent Tshituka, who is also a Springbok.

The brothers are also teammates at the Sharks and ply their rugby trade in the United Rugby Championship. The duo were teammates at the Lions and recently reunited at the Sharks in February 2024. Emmanuel emigrated with his family from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002 and was granted South African citizenship alongside his brother under extraordinary circumstances, after Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber expedited their naturalisation process.

The 26-year-old flanker is expected to hit the ground running in the Boks setup, having represented the SA “A” team against Zimbabwe.

“We’ve had all six players on our radar for a while now, and they’ve delivered consistently for their respective franchises in the last two seasons, so they thoroughly deserve their call-ups,” said Erasmus.

“We have seen what most of them are capable of first-hand in our season-opening matches and at our training camps, so we are delighted to see what they have to offer on this tour.”

The World Rugby champions are tied on 15 points with New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere standings in the Nations Championship but are leading on points’ difference.

They will line up against Italy on Saturday, have France next Friday and Ireland on November 21, before the finals weekend in London later in the month. Tshituka and co are expected to assemble in Italy in different groups on Sunday and Monday.

Cameron Hanekom, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Yaqeen Ahmed, Damian de Allende, Lood de Jager, Sebastian de Klerk, Thomas du Toit, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Aphelele Fassi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Luan Giliomee, Ethan Hooker, Jesse Kriel, Siya Kolisi, Manie Libbok, Wilco Louw, Malcolm Marx, Franco Mostert, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Canan Moodie, Salmaan Moerat, Markus Muller, Ox Nché, Ruan Nortjé, Riley Norton, Zachary Porthen, Cobus Reinach, Gerhard Steenekamp, Emmanuel Tshituka, Edwill van der Merwe, Morné van den Berg, Marco van Staden, Grant Williams, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Jasper Wiese and Damian Willemse.