Sharks lock Ruan Botha has replaced the injured Jean-Luc du Preez in the Springbok squad for the end-of-year tour.

Du Preez suffered an ankle injury in the 21st minute of the Currie Cup final against Western Province. He was initially named in 34-man squad, but officially ruled out of the tour on Monday.

Botha, who captained the Sharks this season, will join the rest of the squad in Joburg on Tuesday afternoon.

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Coach Allister Coetzee says he decided to bolster the Boks’ lock stocks as the squad currently has sufficient cover among the loose forwards.

‘Ruan has played consistently well this year and has been part of our training camps,’ said Coetzee.

‘Ruan has led Sharks to the Currie Cup final and the Super Rugby playoffs this season and is not only a consistently good performer, but also a strong leader.

‘Franco Mostert is not available for the Wales Test as it falls outside the international window, and the tour gives us a good chance to work with Ruan while he also familiarises himself further with the Springbok environment.

‘With Pieter-Steph du Toit who can also perform well at flank plus the addition of Oupa Mohoje to the loose forwards, we believe that we have sufficient cover at blindside flank.’

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