Japanese-based Springboks cleared to play England
The Springboks will begin their preparations for their tour to the Northern Hemisphere on Sunday with a three-day training camp in Stellenbosch.
Twenty-six players are set to assemble for the training camp.
The group includes 17 South African-based players and nine who are currently plying their trade in Japan.
All 26 players formed part of Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber’s squads that participated in the series against Wales and the Rugby Championship.
Canan Moodie, who is nursing a hamstring injury, is among those invited to the camp to allow the Springbok medical team to assess the extent of his injury.
The Springboks will play four Tests on consecutive Saturdays next month – against Ireland in Dublin on 5 November, France in Marseille on 12 November, Italy in Genoa on 19 November and England in London on 26 November on the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour.
The SA ‘A’ team, coached by Stick, will play two mid-week matches – against Munster on Thursday, 10 November, and the Bristol Bears a week later on 17 November.
The Springbok and SA ‘A’ touring squads will be named on Friday, 28 October, with the Bok squad set to gather in Dublin on Sunday, 30 October.
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“We are departing for the year-end tour next week Saturday, so it is vital that we get the players back into our structures and our usual training programme so that they are raring to go by the time we depart for Ireland,” said Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber.
“There are some players who didn’t get much game time in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship and who will benefit immensely from the additional game time next week in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, while it is important for the Japanese-based players to get back to national training.
“It may be a short camp, but we have clear objectives, and we know what boxes we need to tick as we look forward to what is going to be a challenging year-end tour.
“We are facing the No 1 and No 2 teams in the world in Ireland and France, and then we line up against Italy and England, both of whom will test us to the limit, so the sooner we get into the swing of things, the better.”
The Japanese-based players have been granted permission to participate in the closing Test of the tour against England, which falls outside of the international Test window.
