New Springbok midweek captain Dewald Potgieter and Sharks loose forward Jean Deysel both took a giant leap closer to a full Bok Test cap on Wednesday.

The duo, along with uncapped Bok scrumhalf Francois Hougaard and wing Jongi Nokwe were all named in the 26-man squad that headed to Udine on Wednesday to prepare for the Test against Italy on Saturday.

With injury concerns over several forwards - prop CJ Van Der Linde, hooker Bismarck du Plessis, lock Andries Becker and flank Schalk Burger - additional cover were required.

However, the remainder of the 37-man year-end tour squad - mainly from the Dirt Trackers selection that lost 23-24 to Saracens on Tuesday - will return home to South Africa on Wednesday.

South Africa suffered their third successive defeat on their European tour, when Saracens' Springbok flyhalf Derick Hougaard kicked a late match-winning drop-goal to give the English club side a cherished win at Wembley.

Bok assistant coach Dick Muir, in charge of the Dirt Trackers, confirmed that there are concerns over prop Van der Linde, who was replaced 10 minutes into the match with a hamstring injury, and Becker, who damaged his ribs.

Add to this Burger and Du Plessis, who are struggling with rib injuries sustained during the Boks' 13-20 loss to France last Friday, and the picture suddenly does look bleak ahead of the encounter with an Italian team that gave the All Blacks a scrum lesson last week.

The Boks have already lost an entire front row on tour - with Gurthrö Steenkamp, Chiliboy Ralepelle and Jannie du Plessis all returning home.

They can ill afford to lose another prop.

Bok coach Peter de Villiers was toying with the idea of resting star lock Victor Matfield against Italy this coming Saturday, but Bekker's injury may well force a rethink.

The Dirt Trackers have lost both their matches - against the Leicester Tigers and Saracens - and the Test went down to France, with South Africa facing the prospect of losing all their matches on a Northern Hemisphere tour for the first time in more that 50 years.

The physical presence of players like Potgieter and Deysel will certainly be needed against an Italian team that has one of the most competitive packs in the Test arena - even though they often lack the polish to finish off the big guns.

Bok coach Peter de Villiers will name his Test starting XV on Thursday.

South African squad:

Backs: Zane Kirchner, JP Pietersen, Jaque Fourie, Adi Jacobs, Bryan Habana, Morné Steyn, Fourie du Preez, Ruan Pienaar, Wynand Olivier, Francois Hougaard, Jongi Nokwe.

Forwards: Ryan Kankowski, Schalk Burger, Heinrich Brüssow, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, John Smit (captain), Bismarck du Plessis, Tendai Mtawarira, Adriaan Strauss, Wian du Preez, CJ van der Linde, Andries Bekker, Danie Rossouw, Dewald Potgieter, Jean Deysel.

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