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The Springboks’ end-of-year tour itinerary includes Tests against Ireland in Dublin (November 8), England in London (November 15), Italy in Padova (November 22) and Wales in Cardiff (November 29).
“The match against Wales falls outside the IRB Test window so our overseas-based players will not be available for that match, which will provide a good test for our depth in South Africa and I’m excited to see what a number of our younger players can do in the Millennium Stadium,” said Bok coach Heyneke Meyer.
That rules out the likes of Francois Louw, Morne Steyn, JP Pietersen, Fourie du Preez, Bryan Habana, Schalk Burger, Bakkies Botha, Gurthro Steenkamp and Ruan Pienaar.
The 36-man touring squad for will be announced on Sunday, October 26 (the day after the Currie Cup final) and they will get together in Johannesburg for a pre-departure camp on Wednesday, October 29 before leaving for Dublin on Saturday, November 1.
Meanwhile, the 20 Springboks currently contracted by the South African Rugby Union (SARU) will take part in a training camp in Stellenbosch from October 20-24 as preparation for the tour next month.
The decision to invite the contracted players to the camp was taken in agreement with the provinces. This was done in line with a request from SARU to the provinces regarding the use of nationally contracted players in the Currie Cup.
The 20 contracted Springboks:
Willem Alberts (loose forward), Marcell Coetzee (loose forward), Damian de Allende (centre/wing), Jean de Villiers (centre), Bismarck du Plessis (hooker), Jannie du Plessis (prop), JJ Engelbrecht (centre/wing), Eben Etzebeth (lock), Cornal Hendricks (wing), Francois Hougaard (scrumhalf), Siya Kolisi (loose forward), Patrick Lambie (flyhalf/fullback), Willie le Roux (fullback/wing), Victor Matfield (lock), Tendai Mtawarira (prop), Coenie Oosthuizen (prop), Jan Serfontein (centre), Adriaan Strauss (hooker), Flip van der Merwe (lock) and Duane Vermeulen (No 8)
