Heinrich Brüssow, a ball fetcher par excellence, should be named along with team-mate Ashley Johnson when the Springbok team for the Tri-Nations is announced on Saturday.

Brüssow will undergo medical tests when the preliminary World Cup group assembles in Cape Town on Wednesday. He is expected to be fit to face the Wallabies and All Blacks on 23 and 30 July in Sydney and Wellington respectively.

The Springbok team for those two away-leg Tests will be announced on Saturday.

Brüssow last played international rugby in 2009, but he has worked hard in recent times to be fit for the World Cup, which starts in September. His fitness has improved steadily which could see him get a chance in during the Tri-Nations Tests to improve on his match-fitness.

It was tough to gain any information out of the Springbok camp over the last two weeks, as the Bok management understandably did not want to shift the focus away from the Super Rugby tournament.

It is expected that the provisional World Cup squad will be split up into two groups – those flying to Australia on Friday for the Test matches in Australasia and those playing in the local Test matches.

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has already taken note of what his predecessor Jake White did four years ago, by employing the services of Bloemfontein-based fitness guru, Dr Derick Coetzee.

De Villiers will – like White in 2007 – leave a number of top Springboks at home under Coetzee’s guidance when the Boks travel for their away leg of the Tri-Nations. It is still unknown exactly how many players will stay at home, but several senior Springboks who played more than 1 000 minutes of Super Rugby are expected to stay in South Africa.

Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger (who is expected to be sidelined for between six and eightweeks after dislocating his thumb during the Super Rugby semi-finals), Bismarck du Plessis and Pierre Spies are amongst these players.De Villiers would, however, have to decide what to do with John Smit in this scenario. The Bok captain has, on average, played only 49 minutes per game in Super Rugby this year – and only one full game at hooker.