Debutants leave Rassie with selection headache ahead of Rugby Championship

THE Springboks played with 14 players for the majority of their Test against Portugal in Bloemfontein yesterday but still the world champions were too good for their opponents.

Even with a makeshift team, consisting of several debutants who scored their first Bok tries, the South Africans won the one-off Test by a comfortable 64-21 margin.

They completed a magnificent performance, scoring 10 tries even though inside centre Andre Esterhuizen was red-carded early in the game for a tackle deemed dangerous for head-on-head contact.

Despite that, the Boks were too strong for Os Lobos in their historic first Test in the Toyota Stadium, and the attitude and grit of the newcomers will give head coach Rassie Erasmus plenty to think about ahead of announcing his squad for the Rugby Championship this coming week.

It was an expected romp in which the Boks played with 13 men for about 15 minutes of the match after the red card to Esterhuizen and yellow cards to winger Kurt-Lee Arendse and debutant Quan Horn, who was among the try scorers.

The match was in the hands of Scotland’s Hollie Davidson, who became the first woman to referee world champions South Africa in a Test match.

It was always a given that the Springboks would complete a comprehensive victory, but the manner in which they did it, with so many inexperienced players, will delight Erasmus and his fellow coaches.

He set out to give the youngsters a run and they did not disappoint at all, with replacement flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu impressing yet again in the backline when he came on, and forwards Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Ben-Jason Dixon, Phepsi Buthelezi, Johan Grobbelaar, and scrumhalf Morne van den Berg all putting their hands up for future selection.

Of course, the cool and calm heads of scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, outside centre Lukhanyo Am, and wingers Makazole Mapimpi and Arendse, alongside prop Thomas du Toit among the forwards, guided the youngsters to victory.

The win underpinned the depth the Springboks have, and ‘Project 2027’, referring to their 2027 Rugby World Cup title defence in Australia, seems to be in a very healthy space ahead of the Rugby Championship.

One player who will give Erasmus headaches ahead of the August tour to Australia is Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who again made magic when he was introduced after only 44 minutes.

The player he replaced, Manie Libbok, was excellent on the attack, and he will certainly play a vital role in developing the attacking gameplan of the Boks even more. But his place kicking remains a concern.

Handre Pollard, on the other hand, had a flawless kicking display in the second Test against Ireland, but he still can’t deliver what Libbok and Feinberg-Mngomezulu do on attack.

The gap the young utility back took, beating several Portuguese defenders and offloading one-handed to Mapimpi to dot down, was probably the best try of the game from the Boks as the veteran winger scored a hat-trick of tries.

A close second for the best try will likely be the break and chip by fullback Aphelele Fassi to put through winger Arendse to score another five-pointer in his illustrious try-scoring efforts so far in the Bok jersey.

Portugal also provided the Springbok defence with some questions after they scored first and continued to threaten with some good plays up until the final whistle in the City of Roses.

Erasmus and his coaches will have plenty to think about before they finalise their Rugby Championship squad this week.

It’s been a rewarding four Tests for the world champions since the international season started against Wales at Twickenham last month.

They won three and saw some youngsters firmly putting up their hands, while the World Cup winners have shown that they still have plenty of rugby in them to keep the Boks at the top of the world rankings this season.

Now it’s about finding the balance when they play the Wallabies, Argentina and the All Blacks in the southern hemisphere competition to stay winning, but also to build the squad for the 2027 World Cup.

Points scorers:

Springboks 64 (29): Tries: Makazole Mapimpi (3), Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Phepsi Buthelezi, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Ben-Jason Dixon, Lukhanyo Am, Quan Horn, Andre-Hugo Venter. Conversions: Manie Libbok (2), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (5)

Portugal 21 (7) – Tries: Jose Paiva dos Santos (2). Conversion: Joris Moura, Domingo Cabral (2)