Handré Pollard is not Superman, says Boks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus

The perception that Handré Pollard will be the panacea to the Springboks ills is well off the mark, according to Rassie Erasmus. The director of rugby is clear that Pollard is no miracle worker and he certainly doesn't wear a cape.

“Everybody must see it in perspective. Handré Pollard is not Superman. He can't come back where he was four weeks ago when he was totally not ready for rugby,” Erasmus said while the Boks are still counting the cost of their 13-8 defeat to Ireland in Paris on Saturday evening.

They have arrived back in Toulon after taking the high speed train to Marseille from Paris, and it is in their Toulon base where they hope to get their Rugby World Cup (RWC) campaign back on track.

One of the departments in which the Boks fell short is goal kicking, with Manie Libbok and Faf de Klerk missing two each. Pollard, who was left out of the initial RWC squad, was called up last week after hooker Malcolm Marx left a vacancy following his tournament ending injury.

He has a fine track record for holding his nerve off the kicking tee in matches of real consequence, but he is yet to get fully up to speed with his well-conditioned teammates.

“He didn't even run full pace four, five weeks ago. He's only played 40 minutes of rugby. He doesn't just come on to the field for kicking. He must tackle, he must pass, he must do kick-offs, side steps, hand off, clean out at the ruck.

“People thought we didn't pick Handré Pollard because we didn't want to pick Handré Pollard, That's obviously not the case. Handré only played 40 minutes last week and he's had a full week of training with us. That was full on contact where he does not sit out a session.

“Last week he wasn't up for selection but we were always going to rotate the squad for the Tonga match.”

Erasmus suggested Libbok be judged on all the elements of his game and not just the regularity with which he raises the flags.

“If you start weighing up the different things Manie does, it is like Deon Fourie's line-out throwing. He had four lineouts and there was one not straight. He scrummed well and people were nervous about that (before the game). If he had trouble in the lineout we'd work on it this week.

“Manie is obviously in a dip with his goal kicking. He knows it, we know it, the world knows it because everyone keeps talking about it.

“When Faf took over he kicked it from 55m against the upright, which we almost scored from.

“We can't magically say someone else must kick. Faf is a really good goal kicker.

“Handré is playing this weekend but let's see what he does in terms of the other things in the game on the contact side of things. He will also take his time to find his rhythm in pressure situations. The Tonga Test will be a good Test for him, as a yardstick to see where he is.

“Manie is certainly playing brilliant flyhalf rugby at this stage. Obviously his goalkicking is not matching that at this stage.”

Erasmus was impressed the Boks limited Ireland to just 13 points, but he also pointed out it is the first time since the Boks were held to single digits since they lost 38-3 at Lansdown Road in 2017.

He said he had no preference about who he wants the Springboks to meet in the quarterfinals. The defeat to Ireland means they are now more likely to play hosts France.

“I don't know who is brave enough to say we'd prefer to play our quarterfinal against France or New Zealand. We will let destiny decide. They are both formidable opponents."