GQEBERHA- Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus and SA ‘A’ coach Mzwandile Stick have welcomed their teams’ encouraging victories at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium but insist there is still significant work to be done before tougher challenges lie ahead.
The Springboks opened their season with an emphatic 80-31 victory over the Barbarians on Saturday, while SA ‘A’ delivered a convincing 40-0 win against Zimbabwe.
Despite the impressive scorelines, both coaches stressed that their teams remain a work in progress ahead of the Nations Championship, which begins in two weeks.
Erasmus said the Springboks showed promising signs but highlighted discipline and defensive lapses as areas requiring urgent attention.
“Our discipline wasn’t great and they scored tries in quick succession, so the yellow cards were not ideal,” Erasmus said.
He noted that the team was still finding its rhythm after several months apart.”We have to remind ourselves that it’s been six or seven months since we’ve played together. Some players were new in the mix, while there was uncertainty around the availability of players from the DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls.
Those are all factors we need to consider.”While pleased with his side’s attacking output, Erasmus cautioned against reading too much into the scoreline.
“To score 80 points is nice, but the Barbarians were put together quite late and only had three training sessions. They still scored four or five excellent tries against us, and that’s something we need to address. We have to eliminate those defensive lapses and be better as a unit when we face England,” he emphasised.
The Bok coach also expressed concern over lock Franco Mostert, who left the field with an ankle injury. “I’m worried about his ankle. He’ll go for scans tomorrow, so hopefully it’s not too serious,” Erasmus said.
In addition Springbok captain Siya Kolisi shared his coach’s assessment, saying the match provided valuable lessons despite the convincing victory.
“I thought we achieved a lot of what we wanted to do, but there were also moments when things didn’t go according to plan and we learned important lessons from that,” Kolisi said.
“I always prefer to watch the game again before making a full assessment, but I already know some of the mistakes we made and the areas we need to improve. There were opportunities where we could have controlled the game better.”
Meanwhile, SA ‘A’ coach Stick was satisfied with his side’s effort against Zimbabwe but admitted the performance was not without frustration.”We knew it would be a challenge because most of these players had never played together before. Zimbabwe tested us by keeping the ball in hand and playing direct rugby, and I really enjoyed the way they approached the game,” Stick said.
The former Springbok winger said his primary objective was to assess how effectively players could implement systems introduced during the past fortnight.
“At times it was frustrating because the points weren’t coming. In the first half we had two tries disallowed one because a player stepped into touch and another because a player was slightly ahead of the kick.”
Despite those setbacks, Stick praised his team’s resilience.”The way the players stayed in the fight, even when we were under pressure, was pleasing. We also managed to keep a clean sheet, which is always a positive.”
SA ‘A’ captain Vincent Tshituka reserved special praise for Zimbabwe, who have qualified for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
“We knew we were facing a desperate and highly motivated side. The Zimbabwe players wanted to prove a point against world-class opposition and that showed throughout the match,” Tshituka said.
With both teams emerging victorious, the focus now shifts to fine-tuning performances and correcting shortcomings before the intensity rises in the coming weeks.
Photograph: Supplied
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