Damian de Allende is one of five players who will not be available for the Springboks’ home Tests against the Wallabies and All Blacks.
In naming a preliminary squad for the final two Tests of the Rugby Championship, SA Rugby confirmed that Willie le Roux and Francois Louw would not return to the Boks after linking up with their English clubs this week.
De Allende and Lukhanyo Am have been ruled out with shoulder injuries sustained against the All Blacks last Saturday, while Makazole Mapimpi remains unavailable due to a knee injury.
Bok coach Rassie Erasmus confirmed that the squad will be further bolstered on Saturday when a number of other players have concluded their Currie Cup duty.
‘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.
‘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.
‘While we lost a couple of players to injury, 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.’
Only about 4,000 tickets are still available for the Port Elizabeth Test on 29 September, while the South Africa-New Zealand fixture will be played in front of a capacity crowd at Loftus on 6 October.
Preliminary squad:
Forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Steven Kitshoff, Siya Kolisi (c), Frans Malherbe, Malcolm Marx, Franco Mostert, Tendai Mtawarira, RG Snyman, Warren Whiteley.
Backs: Faf de Klerk, Aphiwe Dyantyi, André Esterhuizen, Elton Jantjies, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Handré Pollard.
Photo: Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images
