Rassie Erasmus says Deon Fourie has overtaken Joseph Dweba to become the Springboks’ third-choice hooker.

First-choice rakes Malcolm Marx and Bongi Mbonambi were on Friday named in the 35-man Bok squad to tour Europe, with Fourie listed as a utility forward and Dweba demoted to the SA A squad.

Dweba started two matches for the Boks in the 2022 Rugby Championship, against the All Blacks at Ellis Park and the Wallabies in Adelaide, before being dropped.

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Fourie was used as the Boks’ replacement hooker for the second clash with Australia in Sydney and the first against Argentina in Buenos Aires, before Mbonambi returned from injury for the second match against the Pumas in Durban.

Erasmus confirmed on Friday that there had been a change in the hooker pecking order.

“Deon has been picked ahead of Joseph,” he said of the 36-year-old Fourie, who became the oldest Bok debutant in the July series against Wales.

“We gave opportunities in the Rugby Championship … Some people will say we must give guys opportunities and then we can see where they are at, and they must get better from there.

“Deon is a real option to take to the World Cup, just like Schalk Brits was [in 2019], so we do have three hookers in the squad.”

Erasmus also pointed out that if injury struck, or Dweba played well for SA A, he could rejoin the Bok squad at any time.

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Photo: Twitter/@Springboks