Captain Siya Kolisi has been passed fit for South Africa’s two-match away leg of the Rugby Championship in New Zealand where they will hope to win at Eden Park in Auckland for the first time in 88 years.
The loose forward missed Saturday’s 30-22 win over Australia in Cape Town that got the defending champions’ campaign back on track but he has made sufficient progress from a knee injury.
Utility forward Pieter-Steph du Toit, fullback Willie le Roux and hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels were also sidelined for the second Australia test but are in the squad for the New Zealand trip.
South Africa face the All Blacks at Eden Park on September 6 and then in Wellington the following week. All four teams in the competition, which also includes Argentina, have one victory from two fixtures so far.
Double World Cup-winning wing Makazole Mapimpi will also travel, as will number eight Jasper Wiese, who is only eligible for the Wellington fixture as he serves a suspension.
The rest of the squad is made up of the players who did duty in their first two games of the campaign against the Wallabies, who won the first match 38-22 in Johannesburg.
“This group of players have been working hard together since our first training camp in June, and most of them have been playing together for years,” coach Rassie Erasmus said.
“Facing the All Blacks in New Zealand is a massive challenge, but all the teams in this competition are ranked among the top sides in the world, and each one has the potential to beat one another on the day.
“We learned valuable lessons from our first game against Australia, and we know exactly what we have to do to reach our standards and improve as the competition progresses.”
South Africa leave for New Zealand on Tuesday in order to acclimatise ahead of the first test.
Squad:
Forwards: Lood de Jager, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Thomas du Toit, Jean-Luc du Preez, Eben Etzebeth, Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi, Wilco Louw, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Franco Mostert, Ox Nche, Ruan Nortje, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman, Marnus van der Merwe, Marco van Staden, Boan Venter, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Jasper Wiese.
Backs: Damian de Allende, Andre Esterhuizen, Aphelele Fassi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ethan Hooker, Jesse Kriel, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie le Roux, Manie Libbok, Makazole Mapimpi, Canan Moodie, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg, Grant Williams, Damian Willemse.
