Bulls flyhalf Handré Pollard has been drafted into the SA ‘A’ squad for their second and final match against the French Barbarians at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Friday June 23.
The strong SA ‘A’ side take on the French Barbarians in the first match at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban this Friday and coach Johann Ackermann will announce the squad on Wednesday morning.
Friday’s clash will be the first rugby match hosted at Moses Mabhida Stadium‚ a venue that was build for the 2010 World Cup.
Pollard‚ who returned to action last weekend for the Blue Bulls in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge after a seven week lay-off‚ joins the SA ‘A’ side as replacement for Francois Venter.
Venter was included in the Springbok squad to face France at Kings Park on Saturday following the withdrawal of Damian de Allende.
De Allende has returned to Cape Town to continue his injury rehabilitation after failing to recover from a quad contusion.
Pollard‚ who played the first of his 20 Tests against Scotland in 2014‚ missed the entire season last year because of injury.
“We have been together now for a week and it would not have made sense to bring Handré (Pollard) in for only a couple of days before the first match‚ so he will join us in Johannesburg‚” said Ackermann.
“Handré is a proven Test player and he has just recently returned from a long injury spell‚ so it will be good to give him this opportunity to improve his match fitness. His experience will also be vital for us.”
- TMG Digital/TMG Sport
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