Props Vincent Koch and Ox Nche, hooker Bongi Mbonambi, lock Eben Etzebeth, scrum-halves Jaden Hendrikse and Grant Williams, and wing Makazole Mapimpi from the Pool 1 team have all been named in the defending champions’ 33-man panel.

Koch and Etzebeth have also played for European clubs, with Koch a two-time Heineken Champions Cup winner with Saracens in his five seasons with the English club before spending last term with Stade Français Paris and Etzebeth having had three campaigns with RC Toulon.

Two other members of the Springboks’ squad are now also contracted to French clubs who will be playing in next season’s Challenge Cup.

Lock Marvin Orie, who has had spells with DHL Stormers and Ospreys, is set to feature for USAP in Pool 2, while scrum-half Cobus Reinach, a 2021 Challenge Cup winner with Montpellier Hérault Rugby, will be seeking to land the trophy for a second time with the TOP 14 club from the same pool.

The strength of Hollywoodbets Sharks’ bid for the 2023-24 EPCR Challenge Cup has been underlined by the inclusion of seven players from the Durban-based side in South Africa’s World Cup squad.