Handre Pollard isn’t Superman, according to Rassie Erasmus, and mense mustn’t expect miracles from the flyhalf when he plays his first match at the Rugby World Cup against Tonga this week.
Pollard is expected to make his comeback for the world champs after heading to France as an injury replacement for hooker Malcolm Marx two weeks back.
And with flyhalf Manie Libbok again failing miserably with the boot in the Springboks’ 13-8 defeat to Ireland on Saturday, the 29-year-old Pollard is seen as the saviour to boot South Africa to glory.
Not to be in Paris - thanks for a tough match and well done on the win, @IrishRugby 😔#StrongerTogether #Springboks #RWC2023 #RSAvIRE pic.twitter.com/4PAT8UKzUg
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 23, 2023
Not so fast, says SA Rugby’s director of rugby Erasmus.
He explains: “You have to see things in perspective. Handre Pollard is not Superman.
“Four weeks ago he was totally not ready to play rugby. He hasn’t even run full pace four or five weeks ago. He has only played 40 minutes of rugby.
The #Springboks coaches are not oblivious to the goal-kicking issues and are considering their options - more here: https://t.co/IAvMnAmYl6 👟#StrongerTogether #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/b9M2LKdD1S
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 24, 2023
“He can’t just come on the field and do goal-kicking; he must tackle, pass, do kick-offs, sidestep, do hand-offs, clean out at the rucks. “People think we didn’t pick Handre Pollard because we didn’t want to. That’s not the case. Handre was injured. He has only had 40 minutes of rugby and a week of training with us last week…”
Erasmus adds: “Manie [Libbok] is obviously in a bit of a dip with his goal-kicking. He knows it, we know it, the world knows it, everybody keeps on talking about it...
“Handre is playing this weekend, but let’s see first of all how Handre does the other stuff in the game. Does he get through it on the contact side of things? I am sure he’ll also take some time to find his rhythm with his kicking under pressure. The Tonga one will be a great test for him as a yardstick to see where he is before we go - if we go – into those quarterfinals, and who will be on the field. Manie is certainly playing brilliant flyhalf rugby at the moment, obviously his goal-kicking is not matching that at this stage.”
dudley.carstens.co.za