The colossal Louw has been included in the squad following the withdrawal of the versatile Jan-Hendrik Wessels from Bloemfontein. The young front-rower has been ruled out of the tour after he sustained an ankle injury during the Bulls 23-22 defeat to the Scarlets in the United Rugby Championship last week.

Louw hasn’t played for the Springboks since 2021, but he was on the standby list for the Rugby Championship earlier in the year.

Grobbelaar, in turn, had his red card against the Scarlets in Llanelli rescinded following a disciplinary hearing earlier in the week and was given the green light to continue playing.

Johan Grobbelaar. Photo: Morgan Piek

The inclusion of Grobbelaar increases the squad to 35 players and they will now have three specialist hookers on tour as Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx were included in the initial squad. Wessels gave the Springboks the luxury of one player covering at prop and hooker, and his injury necessitated the inclusion of two additional players.

The coach, Rassie Erasmus, said the injury to Wessels is a blow, but they have confidence in the ability of Grobbelaar and Louw.

“It’s always sad to lose a player to injury and we wish Jan-Hendrik all the best on his road to recovery, but this opens up the door for Johan and Wilco to make their mark against quality opposition in Scotland, England, and Wales,” said Erasmus.

Wilco Louw. Photo: Gordon Arons/Dafrique Photo Services/SA Rugby

“Jan-Hendrik offered us the luxury of serving as a prop and hooker, but with his versatility out of the picture, we decided to call up a specialist prop and hooker.

“Johan has been part of the squad this season and is really growing in his role and in the team, while Wilco has been delivering consistently superb performances for the Vodacom Bulls this season, and he has been knocking on the door for a while now, so I have no doubt he will want to grab this chance with both hands.

‘We continue to build our squad depth’

“We are certainly excited to see what they bring to the squad, while Wilco’s inclusion also adds to our player stocks as we continue to build our squad depth.”

The Springboks will depart for Jersey in the English Channel on Sunday, where they will prepare for the Tests against Scotland, England, and Wales.

The world champions will tackle the Scots on 10 November at Murrayfield in Edinburgh in their first Test on tour.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg