Eben Etzebeth has been recalled to the Springbok squad and will join the group in France on Monday, replacing uncapped flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed, who returns to South Africa on Sunday with a shoulder niggle.
Etzebeth, who holds the Springbok caps record with 147 Test appearances, was left out of Rassie Erasmus's initial touring squad for the second phase of the Nations Championship due to injury but has since been cleared fit.
Ahmed, 20, was one of six uncapped players in the squad. The shoulder complaint kept him out of most training sessions ahead of Saturday's 66-7 demolition of Italy in Turin and has now ended his tour.
"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."
Erasmus cited both experience and leadership as the driving factors behind Etzebeth's recall. "With enough backline cover in the squad and a number of versatile players among them, we opted to call up Eben, who will not only bring vast experience to the group at this vital stage of the Nations Championship, but also valuable leadership skills, especially with two important matches against France and Ireland in the next two weeks before the Finals Weekend of the tournament."
Erasmus names his match-23 on Monday. The Test against France at the Stade de France kicks off at 22h10 (SA time) on Friday, live on SuperSport.