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London - The Springbok squad has been restored to 30 on its arrival in London on Sunday, as it linked up with the three players who were drafted into the squad from South Africa, the South African Rugby Union (SARU) has said. Wing Odwa Ndungane, hooker Bandise Maku and uncapped scrumhalf Charl McLeod jetted into the squad's London headquarters before the bulk of the party arrived from Edinburgh.
The trio replace injured wings Bryan Habana and Bjorn Basson and hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle, who was suspended from all rugby activities (along with Basson) following a positive test for a prohibited stimulant.
They met a disappointed Springbok squad already focusing on the fourth and final Test of the tour against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
The trip concludes with a match against the Barbarians also at Twickenham on December 4.
The squad has no immediate injury concerns. "We let our supporters down and ourselves down on Saturday," said Springbok coach Peter de Villiers.
"We didn't look after the ball in the conditions and allowed Scotland to put the pressure on us."
While admitting that the squad was disappointed after Saturday's 21-17 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield, De Villiers insisted that the are eager to make up for their flaws against England. "We've no one else to blame other than ourselves and we'll take that on board in our preparations this week.
Looking ahead at the final Test of the season De Villiers said: "England have been very impressive of late and will have taken a lot of confidence from their results and we know that we can't afford to make as many errors against them."
The team returns to training on Monday when they will be joined by the trio.
Maku (24) and Ndungane (29) have both made one appearance for the Springboks this season - in June - while McLeod (27) is included in a Springbok squad for the first time.
