The Rassie Erasmus verdict on Vusi Moyo and a wider Boks report card

Rassie Erasmus handed the Springboks a positive report card after their 43-0 victory over Wales in Durban, praising Vusi Moyo’s composure on debut while insisting there is still room for growth ahead of the Rugby Championship clashes with Argentina.

South Africa scored six tries and kept Wales scoreless in difficult conditions, with Erasmus particularly pleased by the defensive improvement shown by a heavily rotated side.

“To get 43 points and to keep them to nil – we’re satisfied with that.

“Forty-three-nil was definitely better than last week – certainly defensively – but it’s easier to defend on a wet field like that – and we had no injuries, so that’s good.

“I think we’ve got a little bit better in every game of the Nations Championship but as we’ve been rotating it does take cohesion away.”

Nations Championship

Northern Hemisphere

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

France

3

2

1

0

12

2

Scotland

3

2

1

0

11

3

England

3

2

1

0

10

4

Ireland

3

2

1

0

10

5

Wales

3

1

2

0

5

6

Italy

3

0

3

0

0

Southern Hemisphere

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

South Africa

3

3

0

0

15

2

New Zealand

3

3

0

0

15

3

Australia

3

1

2

0

8

4

Argentina

3

1

2

0

7

5

Japan

3

1

2

0

4

6

Fiji

3

0

3

0

0

Attention now turns to Argentina, with Erasmus confirming a split-squad approach as the Boks continue balancing immediate results with longer-term planning ahead of their meetings with New Zealand.

“A squad of 26 will go to Argentina and then there will be 15 or 16 players staying behind with some coaches.”

Despite the one-sided scoreline, Erasmus felt the tricky Durban surface prevented either side from producing their best rugby.

“We saw world-class players make a few knocks-on in this game. The field is really slippery, and you could feel it in the warm-up – that it was really greasy.

“It was tough to play an expansive, pretty game in weather like that against a team that really wanted to defend.”

The Springbok boss was, however, encouraged by the improvements in key areas that had received attention during the week.

“But we didn’t lose a lineout ball and, while we weren’t on our game in the scrums last week, we were good today – our maul stopping and mauling itself was good.

“It was something that we wanted to get right so we had a lot of fixes that we got right.

“In this game we learnt that our defence was better than last week – we worked really hard on that – and then our set piece was really solid.

“And I think some guys handled the pressure of test match rugby better than they did last week. I think a lot of guys came through this test with ticks against their name.”

One player whose name certainly received a tick was Moyo. At 20 years and 27 days old, the fly-half became the youngest No.10 in Springbok history and emerged from a challenging Test debut with the approval of his head coach.

“He definitely played well.

“You could see there were nerves. He’s a really accurate kicker; kicks off well but you get into a test match like this; with a lot of people in the crowd, the ball is wet and suddenly you don’t kick it into the corners and you don’t get your kick offs on the spot.

“I thought he handled it extremely well.

“But I’ve been there; in your first or second test you’re tired because of the nerves and I thought his tyres were a little pap in the second half when we took him off.”

Erasmus also provided an update on his fly-half resources moving forward, revealing that Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is expected to be available for the trip to Argentina, while Handre Pollard has suffered a hamstring injury.

“Sacha will be ready for Argentina.”

“Handre has pulled a hamstring.”

The Springboks have beaten Wales comfortably, but Erasmus expects a much sterner examination when they head to South America.

“Argentina is going to be tough – like Wales they’ve had our number a few times and our biggest loss was to them since we’ve been together from 2018.

“We are just trying to build our game and I think today was another step forward.”