Five Boks heading to France

South Africa have released their five France-based players to play club rugby at the weekend.

The Springboks arrived back in South Africa on Monday, following their short tour to Argentina - where they beat the Pumas by 22-17 in Mendoza to remain top of the standings in Rugby Championship.

However, five players will head on straight to France.

The South African Rugby Union revealed that - following requests from four French clubs - it was decided to release five players to their clubs this weekend.

They are Morné Steyn (Stade Francais), Bryan Habana (Toulon), Juandré Kruger (Racing Metro), Gurthrö Steenkamp and Jano Vermaak (both Toulouse).

"This is a unique situation and a once-off concession to these four French clubs," said SARU CEO Jurie Roux.

"Most of these players recently joined the French league and although we could've opted to keep them with the squad to prepare for the Australasian leg, we decided to adhere to their requests to allow them to return to their clubs for matches this weekend.

"If selected in the squad for the Tests in Australia and New Zealand, they will join up the Springboks in Brisbane on Monday."

The team will enjoy a break of three days before getting together in Johannesburg on Thursday.

The touring squad of 28 players will be named on Wednesday.

The Springboks are scheduled to depart for Australia on Saturday for their next two matches in the Rugby Championship - against Australia in Brisbane next Saturday (September 7) and New Zealand in Auckland (September 14).