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The Springboks finish off their incoming series against Georgia in Mbombela this coming weekend, before looking ahead to the Rugby Championship.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is pleased with the teams start to the season, ahead of their final incoming series game against Georgia in Mbombela. Picture: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said he was pleased with his team’s progress so far this season, ahead of their final game of the mid-year Tests, against Georgia in Mbombela on Saturday.
The Boks wrapped up their two Test series against Italy with a comfortable 45-0 win in Gqeberha on Saturday, to go with their 42-24 win in Pretoria the week before. They also easily dispatched the Barbarians (54-7) in their season opener in Cape Town three weeks ago.
After a relatively error-ridden and stop-start match in Pretoria, the Boks hit back with a far better all-round showing on Saturday, scoring seven tries and keeping the visitors to South Africa pointless over the 80 minutes.
With the Boks now having one more game before bigger challenges in the Rugby Championship, against Georgia in Mbombela, Erasmus said he was pleased with how things were progressing.
“We didn’t concede a lot of points in the Barbarians game, while we got to 50 in tough, rainy conditions. Last week we got 42 and 45 here and only conceded 24 points against Italy in total. And overall, a lot of the guys got caps,” said Erasmus after the match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
“So, hopefully after the Georgia game a lot of the guys will have had two caps, and we will have won all four matches, and we can pick a nice settled, balanced team for the Rugby Championship.”
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Erasmus was set to give a few more rookies a run in Mbombela, among them uncapped players such as Boan Venter, Marnus van der Merwe and possibly Neethling Fouche.
“We want to give out a few more caps, but we’ll make sure there are some older guys in the mix as well,” said Erasmus.
One player the Boks will possibly have to do without is No 8 Jasper Wiese, who was red carded for a headbutt in Saturday’s match.
“I am not able to say if it was right or wrong (the decision) or how bad it was. Jasper must now handle that with our support,” said Erasmus.
“He is just so committed and passionate about the team, and it would have been wonderful for him to play in this game with his brother (Cobus, who came on in the second half for his debut), which now didn’t happen.
“It’s sad. He’s not a guy that goes out there to do those kinds of things, but I don’t want to say anything here that can make it better or worse because I’m not 100% sure what is the best way to take it forward.”
