Springboks to name 45-man squad on Saturday

The Springbok squad for the 2021 British and Irish Lions tour as well as the tests against Georgia will be named on Saturday. The squad named will consist of 45 players.

The Springboks have not played since thrashing England 32-12 in the World Cup final two years ago and finally will get together again.

The Springboks’ A team will face the Lions on July 14 in Cape Town, which Erasmus and his coaching ticket will take charge of, with the squad set to be trimmed down to 35 before the first Test against the tourists on July 24.

“The Tests against Georgia will be on Friday nights so that they don’t clash with the provincial matches against the Lions on the Saturday, and we’re waiting for those details to be confirmed,” Erasmus explained.

We are very fortunate to have players who’ve been in action all over the world. We’ve been quite restricted in South Africa in terms of international rugby, and we couldn’t take part in the Rugby Championship last year," Erasmus added.

“So, while the local players have been playing a lot against each other, we have many others who have been getting exposure overseas.

“We’ve had lots of players doing well in the English Premiership, and a guy like Damian de Allende is in very good form with Munster in the PRO14.

"This has been really beneficial for us along with the local boys who have been getting a lot of rugby under the belt.”