South Africa call-up six players for game against England

South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber has called up six players to the national squad ahead of their final November series clash against England.

South Africa 'A' team captain Thomas du Toit, Ntuthuko Mchunu (both props), Marco van Staden (flanker), Johan Goosen (flyhalf) and Grant Williams (scrumhalf) are the players added to the squad as they look to complete the tour with a victory.

The decision to call up the players follows after Vincent Koch, Trevor Nyakane, Jasper Wiese, Cobus Reinach, Cheslin Kolbe and Andre Esterhuizen join their respective clubs as the encounter falls outside the international window.

“The players who will join us from the SA 'A' team all put up their hands in the midweek games and we are delighted to have them in the mix this week, while Canan has showed what he can do at Test level, and I am sure he will be delighted to be back in the squad,” said Nienaber.

“Some of the players were with us on tour until after the Ireland Test and it was always the plan to recall them at the conclusion of the SA 'A' matches.

“As we said from the outset we wanted as many players as possible to get game time on this tour as we look ahead to the Rugby World Cup next year, and we believe the players and the team will benefit from this in the next few months.”

Nienaber is also wary of the challenge England possess as seen during their recent encounter against the All Blacks that ended in a draw.

"We know it is going to be a tough challenge, and as coaches we have already started turning our attention to that match.

“There are a lot of positives we can take from the Tests against Italy, France and Ireland, but England will pose a completely different challenge and we need to be ready for that.

"We really want to build momentum and finish the tour on a positive note, so we will work as hard as we can this week to achieve that.”