Cape Town - Scrumhalf Faf de Klerk will not be available for the Springboks’ year-end tour to Europe, the player’s English club Sale Sharks have confirmed.

A report earlier this month indicated that De Klerk would return to Sale after the Rugby Championship and the English club confirmed to Netwerk24 on Monday that the player will not be released to play Tests for the remainder of 2018.

“He was released to play for his country in the Rugby Championship, but no provision was made for next month’s tour,” Sale confirmed via an e-mail.

De Klerk was available for the Boks throughout the Rugby Championship and has made the No 9 jersey his own as preparations for next year's Rugby World Cup continue.

English publication The Guardian reported earlier this month that a deal was struck between Sale and SA Rugby that allows the club to keep the player throughout November.

"We didn’t see the benefit of bringing him back during the break weeks, so he’ll come back to us after the Rugby Championship," Sale's director of rugby Steve Diamond was quoted as saying.

The Boks face England outside of the official international window on November 3 before taking on France (November 10), Scotland (November 17) and Wales (November 24).

Meanwhile, there is uncertainty regarding the availability of fullback Willie le Roux, who plays for English club Wasps.

It is likely that Le Roux will not be available for all of South Africa’s Tests but Netwerk24 indicated that he could feature against France and Wales.