Eben Etzebeth has been called up to the Springbok squad in France after recovering from injury, with uncapped flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed heading home on Sunday due to a shoulder problem.
Etzebeth, who missed the initial touring squad for the second phase of the Nations Championship through injury, will join the group on Monday. His recall comes directly at the expense of Ahmed, with Erasmus citing sufficient backline cover as the reason for opting to bring in a lock rather than a like-for-like replacement.
The 20-year-old Ahmed — one of six uncapped players named in the original squad — was unable to train for most of the build-up week ahead of the Boks' 66-7 win over Italy in Turin on Saturday.
"We are very sad for Yaqeen after earning his first call-up to the national squad, but we feel it will be best for him to return to South Africa to recover," said Erasmus. "After being with us for a week, he has a good idea of how we operate and has more insight into our systems, and we are confident that the experience will benefit him immensely as a player going forward."
Etzebeth, now on 147 Test caps, returns to bolster a squad facing France and Ireland in the next two weeks ahead of the Nations Championship Finals Weekend. Erasmus names his match-day 23 to face France on Monday.