Springboks captain Jean de Villiers says South Africa must consider following rivals New Zealand and Australia in barring overseas-based players from the national team as an exodus of talent weakens its Super Rugby teams.
A flood of players have left South African franchises since the Super Rugby season wrapped up last month, with the Bulls alone losing eight team members to cashed-up European and Japanese clubs.
De Villiers says his own Stormers outfit will be without the services of Bryan Habana and Andries Bekker because South African clubs cannot match the offers coming from offshore.
Both the All Blacks and the Wallabies refuse to select overseas-based players in a bid to maintain a depth of local talent, a policy de Villiers said the Springboks may be forced to adopt.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer named five overseas-based players in his starting 15 to face Argentina in Soweto - Habana, Morne Steyn, Ruan Pienaar, Francois Louw and Juandre Kruger.
