Ruhan Nel is one of five players to be added to the Springbok squad for their home Rugby Championship matches against the Wallabies and All Blacks.
Nel, who played for the Blitzboks from 2014 to 2018, has impressed for WP in this year’s Currie Cup.
The other players to be called up are Saracens prop Vincent Koch, Sharks wing Sbu Nkosi, Lions centre Lionel Mapoe and Bulls scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl. Kok last played for the Boks against Italy in November 2016.
They will join the 17 players already in camp in Port Elizabeth on Sunday. The Boks face the Wallabies next Saturday at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, before taking on the All Blacks at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria a week later.
Meanwhile, Bulls prop Trevor Nyakane will continue with his conditioning programme under the supervision of the Bok conditioning and medical staff over the next two weeks.
‘Ruhan comes with a lot of international experience with the Blitzboks and he has performed consistently well for WP, so it will be good to see how he operates in the Bok environment,’ said Bok coach Rassie Erasmus.
‘Trevor and Sbu have been part of the squad earlier in the year and it’s good to welcome them back, while the players who featured for their provinces in recent weeks all got some valuable game time.’
Springbok squad:
Forwards: Schalk Brits, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi (captain), Wilco Louw, Frans Malherbe, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Franco Mostert, Tendai Mtawarira, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, RG Snyman, Marco van Staden, Warren Whiteley.
Backs: Faf de Klerk, Aphiwe Dyantyi, André Esterhuizen, Elton Jantjies, Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Lionel Mapoe, Ruhan Nel, Sibusiso Nkosi, Embrose Papier, Handré Pollard, Ivan van Zyl, Damian Willemse.
