Benhard Janse van Rensburg reveals whether he'd rather play for England or Boks

Janse van Rensburg featured for South Africa Under-20s in 2016, making a brief 20-minute appearance, but was ruled eligible for England last November after the Rugby Football Union successfully appealed his status.

The Bristol Bears centre will officially qualify for England on 8 July through World Rugby’s five-year residency regulation and has been selected among four centres in Borthwick’s 42-man training group.

The 29-year-old joined London Irish in 2021 before later moving to Bristol and is attending this week’s camp ahead of Bath duo Ollie Lawrence and Max Ojomoh.

Although he will not be eligible for England’s Nations Championship opener against South Africa in Johannesburg on 4 July, he could feature against Fiji on 11 July and Argentina on 18 July.

Speaking on the Maul or Nothing podcast, Janse van Rensburg admitted: "I'd love to play for your [my] own country, it means so much more for your kids. They're proper Afrikaans so if one day if I tell them I played for England they're going to look at me like 'Why did you do that?'"

The interview was recorded in October 2024, when the prospect of him playing for England remained uncertain, and his stance may since have evolved.

At the time, he explained he intended to remain patient until he became eligible, though he added that if England approached him, "I'll never say no to it in my life.

"You'd love to play for your country, where you're from. But, if they don't need me, which is fair, I'm not going to say no and let an opportunity pass."

When asked whether he would prefer five Springboks caps or 50 England appearances, he replied: "It depends. If the Springboks call-up comes before England, I would never say no, but if the England one is first, I'm going to say yes to that. It depends which one comes first."

With debate continuing around Borthwick’s decision to include him, the resurfaced interview is likely to intensify scrutiny from those opposed to residency-qualified selections.

Former Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care has been among those to question the move, saying on the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast: "I know Janse van Rensburg has been over here five years and qualifies on residency, but I think playing international rugby has to be more exclusive than that."