Scrum-half Embrose Papier has earned a recall to South Africa’s 46-man squad after an outstanding season with the Bulls, with the Springboks set to face England, Scotland and Wales in July’s Nations Championship matches.
Papier, who won the last of his seven caps in 2018, has returned to form this season and was unavailable for Saturday’s exhibition win over the Barbarians as the Bulls were competing in the United Rugby Championship final against Leinster.
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The new competition pits southern and northern hemisphere teams against each other next month and in November, culminating in a finals tournament over three days at Twickenham the same month.
Another scrum-half returning to the squad is France-based 2019 Rugby World Cup winner Herschel Jantjies, who has been out of favour for several seasons.
The other scrum-halves named by head coach Rassie Erasmus are Cobus Reinach and Grant Williams, who alternated as the first choice for much of last season.
There was no place for double World Cup winner Faf de Klerk. He received prolonged applause coming off the bench against the Barbarians and scored one of 12 Springbok tries.
The record four-time Rugby World Cup champions will lack fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu for the three Tests, starting with England in Johannesburg on 4 July.
He sustained a knee injury playing for the Stormers in the URC, but Erasmus believes he could be fit for a four-Test series against New Zealand in August and September.
Erasmus said Feinberg-Mngomezulu should be ready about four weeks before the first All Blacks Test. This is a more positive verdict on the young playmaker than original estimates that he could be out of action for up to six months.
Manie Libbok and Handre Pollard will compete for the No. 10 shirt until Feinberg-Mngomezulu becomes a contender.
After a spate of injuries, Feinberg-Mngomezulu is the only absentee from what would be widely considered the best current Springboks XV.
Lock RG Snyman and loose forward Kwagga Smith, both effective forwards off the bench, have been ruled out for the 2026 season owing to injuries.
Another absentee is wing-cum-centre Ethan Hooker, but Erasmus said the back may be available for the New Zealand series.
Erasmus has included 12 Bulls, but flanker Elrigh Louw from the Pretoria outfit misses out. He was sidelined throughout last season with a fractured leg.
There are six uncapped players in the squad, including tighthead prop Carlu Sadie from European champions Bordeaux-Begles.
The others are locks Ruben van Heerden and Riley Norton, who impressed against the Barbarians, flanker Paul de Villiers, fly-half Vusi Moyo and winger Jaco Williams.
After tackling England, South Africa face Scotland in Pretoria on 11 July and Wales in Durban seven days later.
