SA Rugby’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has confirmed the Springboks players will not be available for selection for their respective franchises for the United Rugby Championship (URC) weekend local derbies.

This weekend will see the four SA teams in the URC take each other on; the Lions will host the defending champions the Stormers at Ellis Park (6pm) on Saturday while the Sharks will go to Pretoria on Sunday to face off with the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld (3pm). 

Most of the Bok players from the franchises attended a three-day training camp in Stellenbosch for preparations for the Outgoing Tour and SA ‘A’ tour to Europe next month. With the camp having concluded yesterday, there was hope that the internationals would go back to their respective teams to get the excitement up for the derby weekend. 

The Boks and SA ‘A’ sides will be announced on Friday and the Boks players will leave for Ireland on Saturday to get ready for the first Tour Test against the Irish on November 5, while the SA ‘A’ players will be eligible. 

“It was a fantastic camp and it offered the coaches an ideal opportunity to get the players to switch their focus to the Ireland Test next week and the forthcoming SA ‘A’ matches,” said Erasmus.

“The next step is to decide which players will depart for Ireland on Saturday as members of the Springbok squad for the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour and those who will travel straight to Cork on Saturday, 5 November, as part of the SA ‘A’ touring group,” he said. 

The Boks will play four consecutive Tests against Ireland in Dublin, France in Marseille on November 12, Italy in Genoa on November 19 and England in London on November 26 in the Outgoing Tour. The SA ‘A’ team, which will be coached by Mzwandile Stick, will face Munster on Thursday, November 10, and the Bristol Bears a week later on November 17.