Unfortunately for the coaches, however, flyhalf Handre Pollard could miss out on the southern hemisphere showpiece due to the delay in his recovery from a calf injury.

The Springboks will kick off their Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign on Saturday, 8 July, against Australia at Loftus Versfeld, which will be followed by a Test against New Zealand at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland a week later (Saturday, 15 July). They will wrap up the shortened version of the competition against Argentina at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday 29 July. 

“Our only real injury concern for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship is Handre,” said Erasmus. “Eben and Jaden’s test results are looking good, and Damian is good to go.”

Zooming in on Pollard’s injury, Erasmus said: “It’s a calf injury that he injured again when he played for Leicester.

“At this stage he’s in a similar position to Siya (Kolisi) who could be available for the World Cup warm-up games.”

Erasmus also revealed that utility forward Jean-Luc du Preez has joined the squad in Pretoria. 

Nienaber allayed fears that Pollard’s injury could set the team back in their preparation for this vital season, which will culminate in the Rugby World Cup in France and said: “No, it’s not a setback in our planning. We have a game strategy and each flyhalf brings their own style and skillset to the game.” 

Looking ahead at their opening Test of the season against Australia, who will return to the international stage under the guidance of coach Eddie Jones, Nienaber said the Bok focus was on their own game, especially with the change in coaching staff in the Wallabies team.

“As we said last week, it’s tough to prepare to face Australia because we’re not sure if they’ll play with an Eddie Jones or Dave Rennie mindset, so the key for us is to focus on ourselves,” said Nienaber. “We have to be able to adapt to whatever they throw at us on the day.”

Nienaber added: “I’m not entirely sure how they (Australia) are working with their squads,” said Nienaber. “I’ve seen they have two squads with different names, and that one squad will face us and the other remain behind. So everyone is gearing up for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship to build momentum before the World Cup.”

The Springboks will play three World Cup warm-up games after the Castle Lager Rugby Championship against Argentina in Buenos Aires (5 August), Wales in Cardiff (19 August) and New Zealand in London (25 August) before they make the journey to France for the global spectacle.