COMMENT: Morné van den Berg the big winner, Lood de Jager back with a bang as Springboks bash Barbarians

Comment by Ashfak Mohamed

You would’ve expected a bit more from the Barbarians – especially with the calibre of players selected – but it was the Springboks who put on a show in a wet Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.

The 54-7 scoreline was a bit jarring, as the Boks didn’t need to get out of third gear – or even second – to dispatch Robbie Deans’ bunch of all stars, which included Irish duo Cian Healy and Peter O’Mahony, as well as All Black speedster Mark Tele’a.

But for a first game of the year, Bok coach Rassie Erasmus would have been satisfied with what he saw, especially in the conditions.

The South Africans weren’t tested at scrum-time or in the lineouts, but the return of Lood de Jager was a significant highlight.

Plagued by injuries and illness in recent seasons, De Jager seemed to wind back the clock and was full of his usual energy.

He stole an early Barbarians lineout, carried the ball with conviction at close quarters, and was even involved in a tussle with prop Paul Alo-Emile to demonstrate that he was really up for it.

Another Japan-based stalwart in wing Kurt-Lee Arendse was full of running, putting in a few dazzling surges and getting a well-deserved try, while back-three partners Cheslin Kolbe and Aphelele Fassi weren’t far behind.

Fassi had a hand in the first two Bok tries with a couple of classy grubbers, although considering that it wasn’t more than an exhibition game, perhaps he should’ve kept those kinds of tricks in the back pocket for more important occasions – such as the All Blacks at Eden Park.

Flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu also pulled off some moves from the Tony Brown playbook that got the drenched 45,000-strong crowd up on their feet.

But the biggest winner of the day was scrumhalf Morné van den Berg, who produced a strong kicking display to make it a nightmare for the Barbarians catchers, while he cleaned up some scrappy ball at the breakdowns with aplomb.

Van den Berg backed up Erasmus’ pre-match praise, and proved that he is a viable option as a starter and back-up to Grant Williams.

It was a pity that debutants such as Asenathi Ntlabakanye and Vincent Tshituka didn’t get much ball in hand, even though the Sharks loose forward grabbed two tries.

Hard-running No 8 Jean-Luc du Preez was in the same boat, and was the unfortunate victim of ‘friendly fire’ in a clean-out from De Jager that saw him leave the field just before halftime.

Erasmus pulled off a trick of his own by introducing his entire bench early in the second half, and employing Sharks centre André Esterhuizen at flank – where he started his senior career.

Esterhuizen made some decent clean-outs, although his running lines weren’t always suited to a loose forward, while he shifted out to the midfield a few times as well.

But his versatility could be a valuable tool to employ ahead of the 2027 World Cup, particularly if Erasmus opts for a seven-one split where Esterhuizen can cover both the midfield and loose trio.

Another important box ticked were the Bok debuts for hooker Marnus van der Merwe and tighthead prop Neethling Fouché, who both got involved with vigour in the tight-loose and scrums.

Italy will provide a far more searching test of the world champions’ abilities in next Saturday’s first Test at Loftus Versfeld, but it was a sound start for Erasmus’ team in a big year of international rugby.

Points-Scorers

Springboks 54 – Tries: Malcolm Marx, Cheslin Kolbe, Vincent Tshituka (2), Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Lood de Jager, Damian de Allende. Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2), Manie Libbok (5).

Barbarians 7 – Try: Melvyn Jaminet. Conversion: Jaminet (1).