Experienced scrumhalf Faf de Klerk will join the Springboks in New Zealand for the second leg of their Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign against the All Blacks, where they will play matches in Auckland and Wellington, as additional cover in the key position.
De Klerk’s inclusion in the squad increases the size of the group currently preparing for the first Test in Auckland to 36 players, after Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi remained behind in South Africa earlier this week to attend to family matters.
The Springboks will face their archrivals, the All Blacks, at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday 6 September, before travelling to Wellington for their second match on the tour at the Sky Stadium on Saturday 13 September.
In the squad named by Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus, he stuck to the players who did duty for the team in their opening two Castle Lager Rugby Championship matches against Australia for their tour to New Zealand, where they will play back-to-back Tests against the All Blacks next month.
With wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe injured, Makazole Mapimpi, who joined the team in Cape Town last week, will make the trip down under, while the only forward from the squad that faced Australia to miss out on selection was utility forward Cobus Wiese, who has been placed on standby.
The squad contains 20 forwards and 16 backs. No 8 Jasper Wiese, however, is still currently serving a suspension and will only be eligible for selection for the second encounter in Wellington.
The Boks will battle it out with the All Blacks at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday, 6 September, and the Sky Stadium in Wellington a week later on 13 September in matches that will be crucial as the team seeks to defend the Castle Lager Rugby Championship title they won for the first time since 2019 last season.
