Saru has asked teams not to pick their contracted Springboks at any stage of this year's Currie Cup.

In the past, Springbok players returned during the latter stages of the competition, but this year will be different.

'It was decided upon that all contracted Boks will play no part in the Currie Cup, which puts us at a bit of a disadvantage,' said Smit. 'It also depends on who gets selected for the Rugby Championship because they will then be unavailable for the duration of that competition as well.

'There are two ways of looking at it though: you can be negative and worry about how it affects your chances to win the Currie Cup, or you can be excited about creating Springboks and testing the depth of the squad. We have some exciting youngsters and there will be a few fresh faces.'

Contracted Springboks for 2014 – Willem Alberts (Sharks), Jean de Villiers (WP), Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks), Jannie du Plessis (Sharks), Eben Etzebeth (WP), Siya Kolisi (WP), Beast Mtawarira (Sharks), Frans Steyn (Toshiba, Japan), Adriaan Strauss (Cheetahs), Duane Vermeulen (WP), Marcell Coetzee (Sharks), JJ Engelbrecht (Blue Bulls), Francois Hougaard (Blue Bulls), Pat Lambie (Sharks), Willie le Roux (Cheetahs), Coenie Oosthuizen (Cheetahs), Flip van der Merwe (Blue Bulls), JP Pietersen (Sharks).

Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images