A group of 23 players involved in the Springboks’ preliminary Rugby World Cup squad have been released back to their clubs and provinces to be available for Absa Currie Cup selection this weekend.
The list includes 15 of the 29 players who were part of the squad for the away leg of the Castrol Edge Tri-Nations Series.
The Springbok squad for the home leg of the Castrol Edge Tri-Nations series will be announced by electronic media release on Friday.
“Eight of this group have not played any rugby since the end of the Vodacom Super Rugby competition and have been on rehabilitation programmes, with their European clubs or with the Springbok squad,” said Springbok coach Peter de Villiers.
“Our medical team is continuing assessments on the remainder of the players who were unavailable for selection for the away leg. There are still injury concerns around a number of them.”
The eight players who have not appeared since the end of the Super Rugby season are: BJ Botha, Heinrich Brüssow, Elton Jantjies, Zane Kirchner, Francois Louw, Johann Muller, Adriaan Strauss and Coenie Oosthuizen.
De Villiers said the players released back to their provinces and clubs remained in contention for Springbok selection for the Castrol Edge Tri-Nations and Rugby World Cup.
Players released are:
Player
Province/Club
Bjorn Basson
Vodacom Blue Bulls
BJ Botha
Munster, Ireland
Heinrich Brüssow
Toyota Free State Cheetahs
Adrian Jacobs
The Sharks
Elton Jantjies
MTN Lions
Zane Kirchner
Vodacom Blue Bulls
Patrick Lambie
The Sharks
Francois Louw
Bath, England
Charl McLeod
The Sharks
Lwazi Mvovo
The Sharks
Odwa Ndungane
The Sharks
Wynand Olivier
Vodacom Blue Bulls
Dean Greyling
Vodacom Blue Bulls
Alistair Hargreaves
The Sharks
Ryan Kankowski
The Sharks
Werner Kruger
Vodacom Blue Bulls
Ashley Johnson
Toyota Free State Cheetahs
Johann Muller
Ulster, Northern Ireland
Coenie Oosthuizen
Toyota Free State Cheetahs
Chiliboy Ralepelle
Vodacom Blue Bulls
Deon Stegmann
Vodacom Blue Bulls
Adriaan Strauss
Toyota Free State Cheetahs
Flip van der Merwe
Vodacom Blue Bulls
