Faf de Klerk will not feature in this year’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship for the Springboks, missing out on a spot due to injury, while Kwagga Smith and Vincent Koch remain in the side.

Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus named his 33-man squad for the Rugby Championship earlier today, Tuesday July 23, selecting a strong squad to take on New Zealand, Australia and Argentina over the next two months.

Twenty-two of the 33 players are Rugby World Cup winners, while five players who made their debuts this year are included in the squad.

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These are Jan-Hendrik Wessels (utility forward), Johan Grobbelaar (hooker), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back), Ben-Jason Dixon (utility forward) and Morné van den Berg (scrum half). The only newcomer in the squad is lock Ruan Nortjé, who made his Springbok debut against Wales in 2022 and represented the South African A side in November that year.

All the other players featured in the team’s opening four tests of the season against Wales at Twickenham or during the Castle Lager Incoming Series. De Klerk, who originally hails from Mbombela, is one of 10 players who have not been considered for the squad either due to injury or due to ongoing rehab from injuries.

Fellow Lowvelder Smith has cracked the nod for the squad, along with former Pumas player Koch.