South Africa confirm 17-man training squad

South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus has confirmed a 17-man training squad that will prepare for the final two rounds of the Rugby Championship.

Earlier, the Boks have released eight players from the national squad for the provincial duty including Ross Cronje (Golden Lions), Marco van Staden and Embrose Papier (Blue Bulls), Thomas du Toit (Cell C Sharks) along with Wilco Louw, Bongi Mbonambi, Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Damian Willemse (DHL Western Province) while Willie Le Roux and Francois Louw have headed to their Gallagher Premiership teams Wasps and Bath Rugby respectively.

Even though the training squad will be bolstered on Saturday when players return from their Currie Cup duty, Damian De Allende, Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi are certain to miss the final two Tests for the Springboks due to injuries.

“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,” said Erasmus.

“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 welcoming 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.”

South Africa are currently at the second position in the table with 10 points and will face Australia and New Zealand in the final two rounds in Port Elizabeth and Pretoria respectively.

South Africa training squad:

Forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Steven Kitshoff, Siya Kolisi, 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