The Springbok side for the year-end tour to the UK will be announced after the Absa Currie Cup final – and Springbok coach Peter de Villiers will, therefore, have less than two weeks to prepare the Boks for the three tests.
No official communication on the date of the team announcement has been forthcoming from SA Rugby, but it has been learnt that the side will assemble after the weekend of the Currie Cup final on October 25 and depart for Cardiff the following Friday.
Effectively that means that De Villiers will have less than a week’s training at home and a full week before the test against Wales in Cardiff on November 8. The Springboks play Tests against Wales, Scotland and England on November 8, 15 and 22 respectively. Plans for a fourth Test against Ireland have been shelved.
There has also been no formal communication from SA Rugby on the composition of the side, but De Villiers has previously intimated that, with the test series against the British and Irish Lions next year in mind, the touring squad could be without a number of senior players, some of whom have played in as many as 10 tests this season.
Meanwhile there is also no clarity on when Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu will announce his contracted players for the 2008/09 IRB Sevens World series which starts in Dubai on November 28 and 29. He is still negotiating the release of players from the Super 14 franchises.