Harlequins centre Andre Esterhuizen has been named ahead of the injured Lukhanyo Am in the Rugby World Cup squad for reigning champions South Africa, with Leicester Tigers fly-half Handre Pollard joining Am as another notable absentee.
Pollard too is injured, along with Sale Sharks’ Lood De Jager having a chest infection. The pair and Am – who suffered a knee problem in victory for South Africa against Argentina last weekend – all feature on a six-man standby list.
Captain Siya Kolisi has recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury sustained in April to assume the role that he had when lifting the last World Cup trophy four years ago.
“This was one of the hardest selections we have ever had to make,” said Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber on the Springboks’ website.
“Any of the 42-man training squad would do a great job, but injuries have played a part in the final selection and time unfortunately ran out for some real champions.
“However, we said from the outset that we wanted to name the best 33 players for the World Cup, and after giving 38 players a run in the last four Tests we are pleased with the make-up of the group and we know we have proper depth in each position.
“We’ve picked a squad with a bunch of the players who can also cover alternative positions, which we’ll need in a very tough World Cup.”
Mannie Libbok, recently praised by our guest columnist Neil De Kock, is the only specialist fly-half named in the squad, while four scrum-halves: Faf de Klerk, Jaden Hendrikse, Cobus Reinach and Grant Williams are among the 33 players going to France.
Munster lock Jean Kleyn is included after recently making his South Africa debut against Australia in the Rugby Championship, having played for Ireland in the 2019 edition.
The winners of that previous tournament kick their campaign off in Marseille on 10 September against Scotland before games against Romania, Kleyn’s former nation Ireland and Tonga.
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