South Africa announce training squad for Autumn Nations Series

South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber has announced a 26-man squad for a three-day training camp ahead of the Autumn Nations Series.

Nienaber said: “We are departing for the year-end tour next Saturday, so it is vital that we get the players back into our structures and our usual training programme so that they are raring to go by the time we depart for Ireland.

“There are some players who didn’t get much game time in the Rugby Championship and who will benefit immensely from the additional game time next week in the United Rugby Championship, while it is important for the Japanese-based players to get back to national training.

“It may be a short camp, but we have clear objectives, and we know what boxes we need to tick as we look forward to what is going to be a challenging year-end tour.

“We are facing the No 1 and No 2 teams in the world in Ireland and France, and then we line up against Italy and England, both of whom will test us to the limit, so the sooner we get into the swing of things, the better.”