'I'm worried': Rassie Erasmus issues update on injured Bok

Rassie Erasmus has confirmed that Franco Mostert will undergo scans after the lock was forced off during the Springboks’ 80-31 victory over the Barbarians in Gqeberha on Saturday.

The Boks ran in 12 tries at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in their first outing of the season, with the Barbarians, assembled at short notice with only three training sessions together, offering little in the way of organised resistance.

South Africa were clinical in attack but showed some defensive frailties, conceding four tries and picking up yellow cards that will concern Erasmus ahead of the Nations Championship opener against England in two weeks.

“I’m worried about his ankle,” Erasmus said of Mostert. “He’ll go for scans tomorrow, so hopefully it’s not too bad.”
The injury is a concern for a Springbok squad already managing a lengthy casualty list ahead of the Nations Championship, which kicks off against England in two weeks.

Erasmus was broadly satisfied with the result but acknowledged the performance left room for improvement. “Our discipline wasn’t great, and they scored tries in quick succession, so yellow cards were not ideal,” he said.

“But we have to remind ourselves that it’s been six or seven months since we’ve played together, and some guys were new in the mix, while we also didn’t know when the DHL Stormers or Vodacom Bulls players would be available at some stage, which are all aspects we have to keep in mind.”

He was also measured in his assessment of the 80-point haul.

“To score 80 points is nice, but the Barbarians were thrown together quite late and had only three training sessions, which makes them difficult to analyse. They scored four or five great tries, so we need to eliminate those defensive lapses and be better as a unit when we play against England.”