Latest news with #Springbok
The Citizen
4 hours ago
- Sport
- The Citizen
Bok coach unfazed by Sacha's 1/5 against Georgia
The Springbok coach said the flyhalf suffered a hip pointer in the warm-up, and was not the worst Bok on the field. Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said he was not too concerned about flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotting just one of his five kicks against Georgia on Saturday. He noted that other Springboks made more mistakes, while Feinberg-Mngomezulu picked up a hip pointer injury in the warm-up. Besides, he is younger than the other flyhalves, may not be his first-choice No 10, and still has plenty to learn. Sacha 20% against Georgia Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23, missed his first three conversions during the Springboks' 55–10 demolition of Georgia in Mbombela. He slotted his next one and then missed his last before being substituted by Handré Pollard early in the second half. The experienced ace nailed all four of his conversions and even scored a try in the 36 minutes he was on the field, adding 13 points to the scoreboard himself. It followed Manie Libbok missing his first two conversions against Italy last week, though he rallied well to slot the next five. Feinberg-Mngomezulu had a far better kicking record than his Stormers teamate, Libbok, in this past season's United Rugby Championship. He finished with a 85.7% kicking success compared to his senior's 72.6%. But Erasmus said goal-kicking was not the be-all and end-all of a flyhalf in his system. The Springbok coach said Feinberg-Mngomezulu is 'not necessarily the first-choice 10' in the set-up. 'We've got Manie, who's on song and when Handré came on you saw he is solid in that,' Erasmus said. 'If you just look at Sacha's goal-kicking, the first [three] he missed, I think after that he did pretty well.' Coaches weren't sure whether to play him after hip pointer The coach said Feinberg-Mngomezulu suffered a hip pointer in the warm-up to the game and coaches were not sure if they should still play him. 'But he wanted to play,' Erasmus said. 'I don't know if that's an excuse for the way he kicked at poles. But he definitely ran it out. We like flyhalves who try things on the field, not just to play in their box and be safe. 'He was settling, he wasn't one of the guys who made the most errors.' He said there were 'lots of guys' who made errors because of Georgia's disruptive game play, which Erasmus commended. 'So no, I am not frustrated with Sacha. It is only his second start this year. Again, he is young compared to our other flyhalves.' Libbok and Pollard are five and eight years his senior, respectively. He has nine Test caps compared to their 20 and 81.
TimesLIVE
5 hours ago
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Rassie will ease off on Bok experiments in Rugby Championship
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said he would revert to a more settled squad for the Rugby Championship after completing the July series with a nine-try romp against Georgia at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday. Erasmus said he was satisfied with the 55-10 result but attributed a stop-start performance to having rotated the squad throughout the four-match series (including the non-Test match against the Barbarians). In the three matches since the opener against the invitational team in Cape Town, the Bok selectors made 10, 15 and 16 personnel changes in successive weeks. 'We're fairly happy if you look over the four games,' Erasmus said. 'We scored close to 50 points in each match and apart from the first Italy Test defended pretty well. 'Georgia were physical and disruptive but that's not an excuse for us making so many errors. But I guess we must understand that if we chop and change teams like we have as we're building squad depth, you'll lose rhythm.
The South African
6 hours ago
- Sport
- The South African
Rassie Erasmus to scale back on experimenting for Rugby Championship
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said he would revert to a more settled squad for the Rugby Championship after completing the July series with a nine try romp against Georgia at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday. Erasmus said he was satisfied with the 55-10 result, but attributed a stop-start performance to having rotated the squad throughout the four-match series (including the non-Test match against Barbarians). In the three matches since the opener against the invitational team in Cape Town, the Springbok selectors made 10, 15 and 16 personnel changes in successive weeks. 'We're fairly happy if you look over the four games,' said Erasmus. 'We scored close to 50 points in each match and apart from the first Italy Test defended pretty well. 'Georgia were physical and disruptive but that's not an excuse for us making so many errors, but I guess we must understand that if we chop and change teams like we have as we're building squad depth, you'll lose rhythm. 'We found that again in the last 20 minutes and we can be fairly happy with the scoreline although one can always do better.' The Springboks now have a three-week break before the opening Test in the Rugby Championship with Erasmus indicating selection would be more consistent. 'We'll name 36 guys on Tuesday for the Australia series and within that squad there'll be one or two guys that we experiment with, but the bulk of that squad will be experienced players who are suited to the way we want to play,' he said. 'The nice thing is that we've got a group of 48 players or so that we've used this year and there's quite a couple that we'd also like to give opportunities to like Jaden (Hendrikse), Jordan (Hendrikse), Quan Horn, Renzo (du Plessis). 'But this was a series where we wanted to experiment a little bit so getting the scorelines we did is pretty satisfying. But the Rugby Championship is definitely a step up.' It was the Springboks' second successive victory by a margin of 45 points – following the previous week's 45-0 win over Italy – and took the try tally to 22 in the three Incoming Series Tests with just four conceded. Starting flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed four conversions from five attempts but Erasmus revealed that the player suffered a hip pointer injury in the warm-up. 'We weren't quite sure if we should push him through the game, but he wanted to play but that's not an excuse for the way he kicked at poles,' the Springbok coach said. 'He ran it out and we like guys that try things and not just play safe and he's certainly not of the guys that made the most errors.' The Springboks return to action on 16 August at Ellis Park when they meet Australia in the Rugby Championship. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The South African
8 hours ago
- Sport
- The South African
WATCH: Springboks sing, celebrate success of juniors
In another special moment for South Africa on Saturday, the Junior Springboks beat New Zealand 23-15 in the final in Italy to win the World Rugby U20 Championship for the first time in 13 years. It was the first meeting of the two nations in a final since the Junior Springboks' class of 2012, featuring the likes of future Rugby World Cup winners Handre Pollard, Steven Kitshoff and Pieter-Steph du Toit, ran out 22-16 winners in Cape Town. In a special twist of fate, the likes of Pollard and Du Toit were in the Springbok change room on Saturday night as they sat down to watch the Junior Springboks in the U20 final after claiming a good win over Georgia at the Mbombela Stadium. Clips have emerged of the Springbok team singing team songs, cheering and celebrating as they watched the juniors achieve success in the U20 final. Scorers: Junior Springboks 23 (13) – Tries: Xola Nyali, Gilermo Mentoe. Conversions: Vusi Moyo (2). Penalty goals: Moyo (3). New Zealand 15 (5) – Tries: Jayden Sa, Maloni Kunawave. Conversion: Will Cole. Penalty goal: Rico Simpson. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Citizen
9 hours ago
- Sport
- The Citizen
Rassie: Boks ‘far from perfect' but in a good place after 4-game experiments
Rassie Erasmus said he was 'fairly happy' after his early-season experiments revealed depth, adaptability and promise. Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus discusses what he thought of Cobus Wiese's performance at No 8, as well as that of the three debutants. Picture: Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said the overall picture was far from perfect, but the experiments and tricks conducted in the squads and on the field during the first four matches of the season highlighted much potential. The Springboks featured close to 50 players, including seven Test debutants, in these opening games. Within 22 days, the Springboks beat the Barbarians 54–7 in a non-Test, Italy 42–24 and 45–0 in two Tests, and then Georgia 55–10 in the latest Test match in Mbombela on Saturday. Tricks and experiments galore Fans did not wait long to see Erasmus continue his trademark innovation, as traditional centre André Esterhuizen packed down at flank in the opening game against the Barbarians. A 'hybrid player', Esterhuizen played flank in attack and dropped to centre in defence. Then, in the second Test against Italy, the Boks played a short kick-off to induce a scrum, and the midfield 'fake lineout' maul from open play. The latter yielded greater results, after World Rugby deemed the former an intentional infringement. The Springboks employed no tricks in the Georgia Test but named three uncapped players in the front row – an extreme rarity in its own right – and played Cobus Wiese at No 8 though he (just his second Test) had never played there in all his professional career. Erasmus said after the 40-point thrashing that he was 'fairly happy' with how the season had gone so far, building up to the Rugby Championship next month. 'The laws are the same for everybody. We want to adapt the quickest, faster than any other country. That's what Jaco Peyper teaches us. If there's a new law, we adapt to it,' Erasmus said, snapping his fingers. Where Cobus Wiese fits into the Springboks The Bok coach said they had blooded players to be three-deep in each position and tested them in various roles for cover. 'But if we chop and change teams we are building squad depth but lose rhythm. I am glad the guys could, in the last 25 minutes, get some rhythm into the game,' he said after the Georgia win. 'Cobus Wiese … we just want to make sure that if we have a guy like him on the bench he can cover seven and eight for us. 'We learned a lot from Cobus today. And I think he learned a lot from Test match rugby. He's definitely not Jasper yet. I think there are definitely areas where a guy like Evan [Roos] still tops him. But it's his first Test match that he starts at eight and I thought he was pretty solid.' How the three Springbok debutants did against Georgia On the three debutants (props Boan Venter and Neethling Fouché, and hooker Marnus van der Merwe), Erasmus said they had gained momentum in the scrums as the game went on, but made tactical errors in gameplay that were common to new players. These would be ironed out. 'They did well in the scrums but they had some errors in attack, being in the right places, cleanouts, ball carries and so on. We've given them 45, 46 minutes and we've seen enough. The scrums were solid enough and we can fix the general play stuff with them.' Erasmus said it was a positive that the Boks won three games convincingly, tested combinations and tricks, and stayed cohesive on defence despite the new faces.
