Rassie Erasmus was mostly smiling after his Springbok team pasted 80 points past a dogged Barbarians team at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday, but he had reservations about a defence that leaked five tries, plus a worry about yet another injured lock.
The Boks won 80-31 in a warm-up for the July 4 Nations Championship opener against England, and did so without half a dozen rested players such as Malcolm Marx, Damian de Allende, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, and Manie Libbok.
Erasmus can further call on 16 Boks who were doing unfortunate duty against Leinster in the URC final in Dublin on Friday night.
For the Barbarians game, Erasmus fielded players who needed game time after injury or had not been playing much, either since the end of the Japan competitions or the URC.
Erasmus was protecting his lock stocks by not playing Etzebeth and De Jager — RG Snyman and Salmaan Moerat are long-term injuries — so it was understandable that he was dismayed that Franco Mostert left the field with what could be a serious ankle injury.
“I’m worried about his ankle,” Erasmus said. “Franco will go for scans on Sunday, and hopefully it’s not too bad. ‘Sous’ doesn’t normally come off the field if it’s not serious. He has always been one of those guys who has an engine that never stops, regardless of age.”
That one injury was a negative that was heavily overshadowed by the emphatic performance against a resilient Barbarians team.
“We have to remind ourselves that it’s been seven months since we’ve played together, and we were kind of puzzling guys in together, not knowing when the Stormers or the Bulls would be available, so we had to keep it in the back of our minds.
“Cohesion wasn’t 100 percent. Overall, boxes were ticked, and I won’t moan too much about the attack when you get 80 points. But the thing we have to moan about is the defence.”
A big talking point before the match was the leftfield selection of Lions fullback Quan Horn at flyhalf.
“One of Quan’s strengths is his defence and the first try came from a guy who ran over him,” Erasmus admitted.
“But the nice thing is that he kept his focus. He had some nice passes and made tries for guys, and kicked really well to touch.
“That is what this game was all about — sorting out some problems and getting some answers. So overall, I think Quan did really well.”
Erasmus was pleased with Horn’s second-half replacement, Vusi Moyo, the Sharks flyhalf.
“Vusi is a really calm guy, but also quite aggressive, and he really impressed us,” the coach said of the 20-year-old.
In the lead-up to the game, Erasmus sang the praises of Junior Springbok captain Riley Norton, who started in the No 5 jersey.
“A guy like Riley Norton, just 19 years old, played a full match against grown men. That’s not easy, and he was exceptional.”
Erasmus was also pleased with the contribution of flank Paul de Villiers.
“Paul did well when he came on, making an important turnover. Evan Roos was good, and I thought Faf (de Klerk) was decent when he got back in the mix.”
