It looks like Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has lost his faith in scrumhalves Ivan van Zyl, Embrose Papier and Louis Schreuder.
Erasmus on Monday sent a SOS to Faf de Klerk, who wasn’t part of the Boks’ original squad for the end-of-year tour, to join the squad and help the Boks out of their current rut.
The 27-year-old De Klerk watched from the stands at Twickenham last weekend as Van Zyl battled to give the Boks good momentum behind the base of the scrum in the 12-11 defeat to England.
Papier played off the bench for Van Zyl and again got limited time to impress the Bok coaching staff, while Schreuder missed out on selection in the match 23 altogether.
Despite this, though, it looks like Papier will be kept on the sidelines again this weekend, with Van Zyl possibly missing out on selection against France in Paris.
BACK IN THE MIX: Bok scrumhalf Faf de Klerk. Photo: MUZI NTOMBELA/BACKPAGEPIX
De Klerk, meanwhile, isn’t the only player to have joined the squad after last week’s defeat to the Roses, with overseas-based players Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Franco Mostert, Francois Louw and Vincent Koch all available for selection for Saturday’s match.
Of the returning players, Erasmus says: “It’s good to welcome Faf, Willie, Cheslin and the others back into the squad.
CONCERNED: Rassie Erasmus. Photo: FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA/EPA
“They bring along some valuable experience and knowledge of the European conditions and we are looking forward to working with them again.
“All of them will be available for selection for this weekend.”
Further good news for the Boks is that lock Eben Etzebeth’s foot injury that saw him leave the field against England is not as bad as initially feared and he might be in contention for the match against Les Bleus.
Etzebeth has until today to prove his fitness to the Bok coaching staff.