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Rassie Erasmus: 'We have been very impressed'
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South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus and his coaching team have been “very impressed” by the influx of young players that have been part of the Springboks set-up in recent weeks.
Erasmus named five uncapped players in his first South Africa team of the year to face the Barbarians on Saturday, as well as a further two who only have one cap to their name.
With a host of uncapped players set to represent South Africa A against Zimbabwe at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha before the Barbarians clash, there is a lot of new blood in the Bok set-up currently.
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After naming his team, the Bok boss said that the purpose of these matches were to expose younger players to the international environment, while easing some previously injured players back into the fold before the Nations Championship gets underway against England next month.
One of those returning players is Pieter-Steph du Toit, who has been sidelined since January after a procedure on his shoulder having featured in a handful of games at the start of the Japan Rugby League One season.
“We said from the outset that we wanted to give a few players returning from injury and others who have been playing overseas game time in this match, while at the same time exposing some of the younger players on our radar to top-class international rugby, and we believe this squad reflects those objectives,” said Erasmus.
“We have been very impressed with the way the new players have jumped straight into action and grasped our systems and structures, and we are excited to see what they can do alongside some of our regular Springbok players, as we build for what will be a challenging season with the Nations Championship and Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series approaching.”
Focusing on the match against the Barbarians, he said: “They have a group of exciting and experienced players in their squad, and they’ll come out guns blazing and try to produce an entertaining style of rugby, which will serve as a good test for us. They will challenge us, but this will be a good hit-out for our players to get back into top-level international rugby, with the England match a little over two weeks away.
“That said, they are always a tough side to analyse because they have players from all around the world, and a quality coaching team, who will set high standards for them, so it will be important for us to focus on our game and what we would like to achieve.”
