Five Springbok players out for remainder of Rugby Championship

The Springboks have confirmed that five players will be out for the rest of the Rugby Championship due to a combination of injury and club commitments.

Damian De Allende (centre), Lukhanyo Am (centre) and Makazole Mapimpi (wing) will not feature in the two home Tests against the All Blacks and Australia after they were ruled out due to injury.

It’s also been confirmed that Wasps full back Willie le Roux and Bath loose forward Francois Louw won’t be returning for the conclusion of the tournament.  Le Roux’s absence is not a surprise, he had struck a special deal over his international participation, as exclusively revealed by RugbyPass.

The Springboks named a 17-man squad for a get together in Port Elizabeth on Friday when they will start their preparations for the final two Tests in the Rugby Championship, They face Australia on September 29th at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, and a week later take on New Zealand at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

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Rassie Erasmus, SA Rugby’s Director of Rugby, confirmed that the squad will be further bolstered on Saturday when a number of other players have concluded their provincial duty in the Currie Cup.

“We are still keeping an eye on a number of players who we would like to involve in the coming weeks, but we would first like to see them get through their provincial matches this weekend,” said Erasmus.

“The players had a brief break after returning from New Zealand and I’m sure they will return fresh and energised for the last two matches,” said Erasmus.

“While we lost a couple of players to injury, but we are looking forward to possibly welcome back some others who have been playing for their provinces and recovered from injury. The two home matches will give us more time to work together as a group, to build on continuity and increase our depth.”

Forwards (10):

Pieter-Steph du Toit (loose forward/lock, DHL Western Province), 40, 20 – 4t

Eben Etzebeth (Lock, DHL Western Province), 71, 15 – 3t

Steven Kitshoff (Prop, DHL Western Province), 31, 5 – 1t

Siya Kolisi (captain, Flanker, DHL Western Province), 35, 25 – 5t

Frans Malherbe (Prop, DHL Western Province), 23, 0

Malcolm Marx (Hooker, Xerox Golden Lions), 18, 20 – 4t

Franco Mostert (Lock, Gloucester, England), 24, 5 – 1t

Tendai Mtawarira (Prop, Cell C Sharks), 105, 10 – 2t

RG Snyman (Lock, Vodacom Blue Bulls), 6, 0

Warren Whiteley (No 8, Xerox Golden Lions), 21, 15 – 3t

Backs (7)

Faf de Klerk (Scrumhalf, Sale Sharks, England), 18, 10 – 2t

Aphiwe Dyantyi (Wing, Xerox Golden Lions, 7, 25 – 5t

André Esterhuizen (Centre, Cell C Sharks), 4, 0

Elton Jantjies (Flyhalf, Xerox Golden Lions), 28, 223 – 2t, 42c, 43p

Cheslin Kolbe (Utility back, Toulouse, France), 2, 5 – 1t

Jesse Kriel (Centre, Vodacom Blue Bulls), 34, 45 – 9t

Handré Pollard (Flyhalf, Vodacom Blue Bulls), 33, 265 – 3t, 50c, 47p, 3d

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