Flyhalf Handre Pollard will join the Springboks squad in Paris on Monday after a late call-up for the Rugby World Cup. Pollard will fill the vacancy created by hooker Malcolm Marx, who was ruled out earlier this week due to a knee injury.

The inclusion of Pollard brings the full complement of players in the team back to 33. He returned to the field on Friday for English club Leicester after a calf injury ruled him out of contention for selection for the RWC squad.

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He was a member of the 2019 Rugby World Cup-winning team in Japan and spent some time in camp with the squad for their final two warm-up games against Wales and the All Blacks in August.

HANDRE POLLARD TEAM UP WITH THE REST OF THE SPRINGBOKS SQUAD 

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber explained the decision to call up Pollard rather than a forward:

“We are confident with the cover we have at hooker with Bongi Mbonambi and Deon Fourie. Marco van Staden has been slotting in the position since our alignment camps in February, so we opted to call up Handre, who has been in our system for years.

“He’s also been working hard to return to full fitness. We are pleased that he now has some game time under his belt for his club. This will also allow him to slot back into the team.

“We’ll work closely with him in the next week to get him back up to speed and back into the full swing of things, and we have no doubt he’ll step up to the challenge. He’s been here before so he knows the physical and mental demands of the World Cup.”

The Springboks will make the journey from Bordeaux to Paris on Monday. They will begin their preparations for Saturday’s round-three RWC clash against Ireland.