Earlier this month, Embrose Papier was perhaps the most surprising inclusion among the five players who were released to their franchises to face the All Blacks in the midweek matches of the inaugural Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry (RGR) series. Papier was undoubtedly the most in-form South African scrumhalf during the URC season, and his performances were enough for him to force his way back into the Springbok team. “There are a few players who we released to the franchises, a guy like Embrose is a classic example,” Erasmus said. “If we take Embrose with them, he doesn’t have the opportunity to train with the Bulls ahead of their match against the All Blacks (on 15 August). “We’ll probably only know in the week before the match whether any of our other Springboks will be released to play against the All Blacks.”