Faf de Klerk has played a significant role in South Africa’s revival this year, but the scrum-half will again be playing for Sale this weekend rather than lining up for his country. The Springboks have first call on him under World Rugby regulations, but they have allowed him to remain with the Sharks despite their head coach, Rassie Erasmus, stating that Wales on Saturday will be the toughest game of their four-match tour.
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De Klerk missed the defeat to England at the start of the month because the match was played outside the official window. He appeared against France the following week, when the Premiership Cup was on, but he played for Sale at Saracens last Saturday, when South Africa were in Scotland, and is training with the club in readiness for Saturday’s game with Northampton.
Under World Rugby regulations clubs are not allowed to offer financial inducements to players to put them before a country, but Erasmus said it was his decision not pick De Klerk, adding: “There is no contractual issue. The World Rugby regulation is quite clear, we can draft a player on the Sunday before a Test. We have a very good relationship with most of the clubs.
“Faf is a contender for the World Cup but we only have five Test matches before the tournament. We have relied on Faf a lot to get back the winning feeling, but we feel our other two scrum-halves are ready to step up. We are playing in the dry under a closed roof in Cardiff and it makes sense to give them another chance because Faf is more used to northern hemisphere conditions.”
South Africa will have their captain, Siya Kolisi, available to face Wales after the flanker was found to have struck the Scotland centre Peter Horne with his head in their 26-20 win but escaped with a citing commissioner’s warning.
“I am relieved that he is available and that the guy involved on the other side is OK,” Erasmus said. “We hope Eben Etzebeth [the second row] will be fit this weekend because while all four Tests on this tour are tough, this will be the hardest. Wales have won eight in a row and in terms of the World Cup, they are almost the silent assassin at this stage.
“I really think it will be an open race next year and it’s impossible to predict the semi-finalists. Northern hemisphere teams have caught up with the running game and while New Zealand are favourites, they have had a bit of a dip. Ireland will gain a lot of confidence by beating them and it is great for the game that there is so little to choose between a number of teams, if not so good for the coaches.”