Rassie won't take BaaBaas for a pop

SPRINGBOK coach Rassie Erasmus won’t take the Barbarians for a pop in next week’s match at Cape Town Stadium. 

While his Springboks side will in all likelihood not be at full strength for the match, Erasmus says of their recent training camp: “It has gone very well. A few of the younger players are still finding their feet, while the players who have been in the set-up in the last few years have been determined to show that they can maintain their form at this level.

“But we have to be careful about how we approach these first games. The moment you say you’re going to play around a little bit with selection for the Barbarians, you give the wrong message.

“That’s why we want to pick up a pretty strong team. It’s not a Test match, but it’s going to be an excellent spectacle, I believe. 

“I’m not sure what the weather in Cape Town will be like, but the game will definitely be of Test-match intensity, with a lot of pressure.”

Next up is two Tests against Italy, in Tshwane on June 6 and Gqebertha a week later and Erasmus adds: “Everybody’s expecting us just to beat Italy. But they were really competitive in the first two rounds of the Six Nations and then they ran a little bit low on player depth because they don’t have a hell of a lot of players... 

“Italy will be very physical and gutsy on defence, so we can’t not perform.”