Springboks_X
The Springbok's head coach Rassie Erasmus has released a handful of players for a much-needed break ahead of the Portugal match at the weekend.
In a statement on Wednesday, Erasmus announced that his squad had been reduced from 41 to 21 after training preparations were wrapped up on Wednesday.
Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marco van Staden, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese, Eben Etzebeth, Vincent Koch, Frans Malherbe, Gerhard Steenekamp, Bongi Mbonambi, Malcolm Marx, Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Faf de Klerk, Handre Pollard and Jesse Kriel will all enjoy a 10 day break before reconvening in Johannesburg next week Sunday.
"We have a demanding Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign coming up, and we've been in training camps and competition respectively since June, so we thought it would be beneficial to give the players who are not playing this weekend a proper break," said Erasmus.
Erasmus added the Boks are playing back-to-back matches against the Wallabies in Australia next month and will then face the All-Blacks on successive weekends back in South Africa.
These games will be followed by a short tour to Argentina and then a game in Nelspruit to conclude the tournament.
Commenting on the decision to retain only two players as injury cover in the squad, Erasmus said: "Bloemfontein is only a flight away if we need additional cover, and since we had a big group of players who are all fully clued up on what we expect from Portugal, we believe this is the best decision for the team."
