Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus admitted his selection for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship would be “interesting” after seven debutants appeared in a commanding over Portugal in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The 64-21 win (halftime 29-7) was achieved despite the Boks being reduced to 14 men in the second minute following a red card for Andre Esterhuizen (centre) as well as twice being reduced to 13 with yellow cards for Kurt-Lee Arendse (wing) and Quan Horn (replacement fullback).
Four of the seven debutants scored tries – Jan-Hendrik Wessels (prop), Phepsi Buthelezi (loose forward), Horn and Andre-Hugo Venter (replacement hooker) – with Erasmus thanking them for their efforts.
“I was happy with everything other than discipline – a red card and two yellows is not going to win you World Cups,” said Erasmus.
“We had to make plans on the field to play with 14 – that’s a nice experience.
“It wasn’t a beautiful match at times, and it didn’t look like we were going to punish them with 50 points, but the crowd never got negative, and I think that helped the players.
“Having seven debutants play with four of them scoring tries makes things interesting when it comes to selecting the squad for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship and the trip to Australia.”
Erasmus said the squad would be named for the tour on Tuesday and was happy to confirm the selectors had been given multiple options.
“I promised the whole squad that everyone would get a game today and at least 20 minutes on the field,” he said. “The way they rewarded us for giving them that chance was really unbelievable. I’m very proud of them.
“We will definitely be slowly integrating some of these players into the squad – some might play against Australia – but then not play against New Zealand – but then come back against Argentina.”
New Bok captain Salaam Moerat praised Portugal for their combative spirit and for staying in physical fight.
“They showed what a quality side they are,” he said. “They took us coast-to-coast and there were stages where we were looking for our breath!
“When we went down to 14, we knew we had to work ever harder as a tight five – but a lot of credit needs to go to Manie [Libbok] and Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] and the way they managed that situation without an inside centre.”
Erasmus dismissed the idea that a ‘B’ team had been selected by the Boks for the match: “Portugal are a Tier Two nation, but this team we picked today would give the team we picked against Ireland a real go. I’m telling you, that there’s no difference between the teams.
“The Portuguese put in a lot of effort and at halftime we weren’t comfortable, and we knew we still had to put in a lot of effort. They hung in there and if you put aside the scoreline, they really tried so we’re just happy to have got the win.”
The Springboks are next in action against Australia at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on 10 August.
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