Erasmus plays down Moerat back spasm fears after Springboks demolish Italy 66-7

Rassie Erasmus has moved to reassure Springbok supporters over captain Salmaan Moerat after the lock was withdrawn from South Africa’s matchday squad with back spasms before their 66-7 Nations Championship demolition of Italy at Allianz Stadium in Turin.

Moerat had been named to start but reported discomfort during the warm-up, forcing a late reshuffle that saw Lood de Jager promoted into the starting XV and Franco Mostert added to the bench. Erasmus confirmed the issue had first emerged two days before the match.

“Salmaan had a little bit of a back spasm on Thursday, but we thought it would clear up,” the head coach said. “He looked good at the captain’s practice, but unfortunately in the warm-up he got more back spasms, so hopefully it’s not too serious. He’s the only casualty we have from the game.”

On the pitch, the world champions were ruthless in the first half, running in tries at will to lead 45-0 at the break before finishing with nine tries in a 66-7 victory. Erasmus, however, was candid about a drop in intensity after the interval.

“Obviously, we’re not happy with the second half,” he admitted. “Italy are a proud team, and despite being 45 points down, they started running the ball from everywhere, while we also made some changes that we wanted to see, and with that one loses a bit of rhythm. But when you win 66-7, I don’t think you can start nitpicking problems in the second half. It wasn’t perfect, but it was proper.”

The Springbok coach was particularly encouraged by his side’s discipline, noting South Africa conceded just one penalty in the first half and roughly five across the full match.

Erasmus was quick to temper expectations ahead of the Springboks’ next two Nations Championship fixtures against France and Ireland, warning that Tuesday’s performance would not be sufficient against either side.

“We have to play much better than this if we want to be competitive against France and Ireland,” he said. “But it’s nice to know that after being a month away from one another, the boys got together and played like that.”

The coach also pointed to the squad’s long-term cohesion as a key factor in their ability to absorb personnel changes without losing shape, highlighting the ongoing integration of players such as Ethan Hooker, Morne van den Berg, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ruan Nortje, Cameron Hanekom, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, and the returning Thomas du Toit.

“We’ve been together for eight years now, and when you go to a game like this and pick a team that’s match fit and ready, and everybody is calm and understands the system, it’s satisfying,” Erasmus said.