“Don’t Throw Him Away” — Erasmus Defends Pollard’s Form

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has dismissed concerns about Handre Pollard’s recent franchise form, insisting that performances at club level do not necessarily determine a player’s value or role within the national setup.

Questions surrounding the veteran flyhalf’s form resurfaced following the Bulls’ disappointing defeat to Leinster in last week’s URC final.

Pollard’s handling error led directly to Leinster’s opening try, while two weeks earlier he endured an unusually inaccurate evening from the kicking tee in the semi-final against the Glasgow Warriors. The Springbok playmaker missed four kicks he would normally be expected to convert, leaving 11 points unclaimed as the Bulls scraped through by a single point.

However, Erasmus was quick to defend the two-time Rugby World Cup winner, stressing the importance of evaluating players within the context of the Springbok environment.

“It’s tough to point fingers at somebody when he plays at his franchise and you’ve worked so much with him,” Erasmus said.

“In my case, since 2018. Sometimes players don’t do well, but when we get the players here, we know what we have in them, and we know how they understand our game plan.”

While acknowledging that Pollard was below his best in the URC final, Erasmus believes it would be short-sighted to overlook years of consistent performances in the green and gold jersey, including his influential display in the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final against England in France.

“Handre didn’t do it in the URC final, but he has never not done it for us. He has always been solid for us. We know what he can do,” said Erasmus.

The Springbok coach explained that franchise rugby and Test rugby often require players to fulfil very different roles, making direct comparisons difficult.

“To judge a guy on how he plays at franchise level, you can look at general things like what his fundamental skills look like,” he said.

“Tactically and technically, what your coaches at franchise level expect from you is different from what we expect and how we want to play.”

Erasmus pointed to utility forward Marco van Staden as an example of how player responsibilities can differ between environments.

“A guy like Marco van Staden is always a standout player for us, but we fully understand why Akkers (Johan Ackermann) picks him on the bench. In his setup, Akkers expects different things from Marco.

“Players come into the Bok setup and play a different role, so I think coaches simply differ in what they expect from a player.”

Pollard’s standing within the national team remains unquestioned in Erasmus’ eyes, particularly given his contribution to some of the Springboks’ greatest achievements.

“What we expect from Handre in our setup, he does for us, and he has won us big trophies,” Erasmus said.

“People forget that we didn’t pick Handre for the last World Cup. He only got drafted in when Malcolm Marx got injured. That’s when Handre came in.

“Handre came into games and slotted crucial penalties.”

Erasmus also cautioned against writing off experienced players too quickly, pointing to former Ireland captain Johnny Sexton’s longevity at the highest level.

“Last year Handre played Tests for us, so we can’t look at him now and suddenly say he’s bad,” he said.

“He has no injuries and he’s 31 years old. He’s not an old guy. Johnny Sexton played until he was 38 at the last World Cup. So we can’t just throw a guy away because his form has dipped. Maybe it was just one or two weeks where he wasn’t great. We want to get our hands on him.”

While Pollard remains a trusted figure, Erasmus acknowledged the growing competition for the No. 10 jersey, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Manie Libbok, Vusi Moyo and Yaqeen Ahmed among the exciting options emerging through the ranks.

“In the same breath, Vusi is a fantastic player, but all the other guys who were here were really good,” Erasmus said.

“Test-match rugby is a massive step up.”

The coach believes South Africa’s flyhalf depth is among the strongest it has been in years, but emphasised that the responsibility now lies with the national coaching staff to help those players successfully make the transition to Test rugby.

“We are about five or six deep when it comes to flyhalf depth, but now we have the responsibility of helping them perform at this level,” said the former Munster coach.