Skipper Siya Kolisi and regular vice-captain Eben Etzebeth will be part of a formidable Springbok contingent travelling ahead in preparation to face the All Blacks on 15 July.
Thirteen Boks were scheduled to leave for Auckland on Tuesday to acclimatise to conditions in that country for the showdown against the Kiwis at Mount Smart Stadium.
Duane Vermeulen will lead a Bok side featuring a mix of experienced and fringe players in the 2023 Rugby Championship opener against the Wallabies in Pretoria on Saturday.
The group departing early to New Zealand with a handful of management includes Kolisi, who will continue to work with the medical and conditioning staff on his rehabilitation from a knee surgery.
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They will be joined early by head coach Jacques Nienaber, assistant coach Felix Jones and SA’s director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, who will travel to New Zealand immediately after the Australia Test.
Another 17 or 18 players and team management members will travel to New Zealand on Sunday afternoon. That group of players will be decided following the Test against Australia – based on the team’s needs for the forthcoming Test against New Zealand and player performances against Australia.
The players who will travel to New Zealand on Tuesday are Etzebeth, Lood de Jager (both locks), Malcolm Marx (hooker), Franco Mostert and Jean-Luc du Preez (both utility forwards), Kwagga Smith (loose forward), Faf de Klerk (scrumhalf), Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi (both wings), Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel (both centres), and Kolisi.
No 8 Jasper Wiese will join those players in New Zealand later in the week following the birth of his child on Monday.
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“Our plan from the outset was to select a squad that we believe has what it takes to beat Australia while at the same time selecting a group of players that could travel to New Zealand to give us the best possible chance to do well in both matches,” said Nienaber.
“Our last Rugby Championship match is in Johannesburg and then we’ll be able to select a squad from our full complement of players.
“This squad features several Rugby World Cup winners and a crop of younger players who have done the job for us at the highest level, and judging by their enthusiasm and high work ethic at training, we know they are the right players for this big task.”
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