Erasmus rules Montpellier duo out of first Test vs. England

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has ruled Montpellier duo Bismarck du Plessis and Frans Steyn out of Saturday's first Test against England in Johannesburg.

Steyn and Du Plessis will only join up with the Springboks midweek having participated in the TOP14 final in Paris last weekend, where Montpellier were surprisingly beaten by Castres at the Stade de France.

“I won’t consider them this week just because they haven’t trained with us much, and it wouldn’t be fair on the guys that have been with us here this whole time. I also want to see what they look like when they get here,” Erasmus told Reuters in Johannesburg on Monday.

Stomers hooker Bongi Mbonambi is in pole position to start in the No.2 shirt despite a recent lack of game time in 2018 but Erasmus says he chose Mbonambi because of his familiarity in the Test arena.

“The ideal thing is that when you select a guy for the Springbok team he must have four or five proper games under his belt,” Erasmus explained.

“It is what it is and you have to make a plan.

“A guy like Bongi has Test experience and the nice thing about him is that he is always top fit. It wasn’t a knee or and ankle, it was an appendix, so it wasn’t a rehab thing.

“He did fitness and conditioning right from our first session so I’m fairly confident.

“Between Akker and Chiliboy and the way they played, we’ll have to make a call there. From next week a guy like Bismarck will be in contention.”

Du Plessis was set to make his first appearance for the Springboks since the 2015 World Cup, recalled to fill the void left by the injured Lions player Malcolm Marx.

The Springboks play England in three Tests with the second match in Bloemfontein on June 16 and the last in Cape Town on June 23.