Britz made his return to rugby on Friday after injuring his thumb while playing for NTT Shining Arcs in the Japanese Top League.

The injury has seen the player sidelined for the Toyota Cheetahs' first eight matches in the Super Rugby.

Britz made an appearance for the Toyota Free State XV on Friday in their 36-31 loss to Western Province in the Provincial Cup (Currie Cup qualifiers) at CUT Park.

Earlier in the day the forgotten Springbok, Hilton Lobberts, broke a bone in his shoulder while attempting a tackle during the Cheetahs disappointing 36-14 loss to the Melbourne Rebels at AMMI Park in Melbourne.

After the game coach Franco Smith confirmed that Lobberts would be heading home.

“At this stage Hilton Lobberts has a quite serious injury, he broke a bone in his shoulder so he will probably head home as soon as possible.

“It won’t influence the team much, guys like Willie Britz, Tienie Burger and Reniel Hugo are standing by.

“We will make a decision later tonight (Friday), but I believe we have sufficient depth to replace him.”

OFM Sport can confirm that Britz is the man who has cracked the nod to travel down under.

A starting role for Britz against the Reds is highly unlikely and that honour is set to go to the Springbok flank, Oupa Mohoje, who made his return to Super Rugby during the team's 92-17 drubbing of the Sunwolves in Bloemfontein just over a week ago.

Fortunately for Smith he has depth at his disposal in the back row, however, the team's depth is being stretched with the rock-hard Boom Prinsloo out of action for the remainder of the season with a torn calf.

While the team were below par against the Rebels on Friday night, Britz will be a welcome addition to the side for their two remaining tour matches against the Reds on Saturday in Brisbane and the Waratahs a week later in Sydney.

Britz was one of the Cheetahs' try scorers during their 18-17 loss to the Reds just over a year ago (18 April 2015) in Bloemfontein at the then Free State Stadium.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport