Ruan Dreyer has been called up to the Springbok squad as injury cover for Jannie du Plessis.

Dreyer will join the squad in Italy as soon as his travel arrangements have been made.

Du Plessis left the field during the Springboks' 31-28 victory over England at Twickenham on Saturday. The Boks are already without backup tightheads Frans Malherbe and Marcel van der Merwe.

'Jannie will probably not be ready this weekend and Gurthrö Steenkamp is not available to face Wales next week so we've decided to bring Ruan in,' said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer. 'Ruan has been very good this season and played an integral role in the Lions' strong performances in the scrum. This presents a great opportunity to work with him.'

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