Leinster prop Heinke van der Merwe has been called up to the Springbok squad for the duration of their European tour…
He played in his only Test for South Africa against Wales in November 2007, and he toured with the Springboks at the end of the 2009 season.
Gurthrö Steenkamp, who joined the squad on Tuesday evening, is struggling with a light niggle and Van der Merwe’s call-up provides extra cover at loosehead prop.
“Heinke has played for South Africa before and is based in Dublin, making it easy for him to join the squad. I’ve been following his career and he has been playing well for Leinster, who are the Heineken Cup champions,” said Springbok Coach Heyneke Meyer.
Meanwhile, should former Leinster prop CJ van der Linde be used as a substitute on Saturday in the Aviva Stadium, he will join Ruan Pienaar on 35 Tests as a replacement, the second most by a Springbok. CJ will then also become the most capped Springbok against Ireland in his seventh cap.
