Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus praised his side’s progress after South Africa secured a convincing 43-0 victory over Wales in their Nations Championship clash in Durban, but quickly shifted his attention to the upcoming tour to Argentina.
The Boks led 19-0 at halftime before finishing strongly to claim a dominant win, with Erasmus awarding his team a pass mark for another improved performance.
To get 43 points and keep them to nil, we’re satisfied with that,Erasmus said.
He noted that while the wet conditions made attacking rugby difficult, his side showed significant improvement, particularly on defence and at set-piece.
The field was really slippery and it wasn’t easy to play an expansive game, but we didn’t lose a lineout and our scrum, maul and defence were much better than last week. A lot of the fixes we worked on came through, and several players put ticks next to their names.
With the Rugby Championship now turning towards Argentina, Erasmus confirmed that a squad of 26 players will travel to South America, while another group remains in South Africa to prepare for the highly anticipated clashes against New Zealand later in August and September.
The Springbok coach also praised 20-year-old flyhalf Vusi Moyo, who became the youngest flyhalf in Springbok history. Despite admitting the youngster showed signs of nerves in his Test debut, Erasmus was impressed with how he handled the occasion.
He definitely played well. You could see there were nerves, especially in the wet conditions, but he handled it extremely well. I thought the nerves caught up with him in the second half, but that’s normal for a first Test.
Erasmus also provided an update on his flyhalf options, confirming that Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is expected to be fit for the Argentina tour, while Handré Pollard has suffered a hamstring injury.
Looking ahead to the Pumas, Erasmus expects another stern challenge.
Argentina is going to be tough. They’ve had our number a few times, and our biggest defeat since 2018 came against them. We’re just trying to keep building our game, and I think today was another step forward.
Images:Springboks Twitter