Pieter-Steph du Toit & Riley Norton the big victories for Rassie’s Boks

Pieter-Steph du Toit started and finished against the Barbarians in a performance that was bigger than any result for Boks coach Rassie Erasmus. Equally, the contribution of debutant Riley Norton.

Erasmus and his coaching staff would have enjoyed the pressure-free environment of knowing they could never lose against the scratch combination and they would have wanted to maximise the playing minutes where possible of so many of the national squad who had been out of action for lengthy periods or were coming back from injury.

Two-times World Cup winner and two-times World Player of the Year Du Toit is integral to the Boks. He had not played a match for his Japanese club this season and Saturday’s demolition of the Barbarians at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha was his first match of the year.

What a performance from the Springboks flanker, who finished the match at lock.

Du Toit was substituted in the 47th minute but returned in the 57th minute when injury ended lock Franco Mostert’s afternoon.

Du Toit, of the veterans, produced the most compelling performance. Among the youngsters, SA under 20 captain Riley Norton was impressive in his 82 minutes, start to finish, shift.

Norton will captain the SA under 20 team as they defend their world championship title in George next month. But he will most definitely be part of the Springboks squad this season.

Erasmus spoke glowingly of Norton’s presence as a player and leader. He described the debutant as having an aura. It is not often Erasmus speaks so liberal and enthusiastically of any of his players in public.

The Boks won 80-31 and scored 12 tries against a team assembled a few days ago. The Barbarians played with spirit for an hour, but conceding 80 points does little to encourage trying to find a place for the old amateur match-ups in the hardened modern world of rugby.

What was once a memorable and traditional contest has been a mismatch in the past two seasons.

The Boks won in Cape Town 54-7 last year, having not beaten the Barbarians in 25 years.

It is the first time the Barbarians have conceded 80 points. England, in 2015, beat them 73-12.

The Boks have scored 20 tries against the Barbarians in their last two matches.

The Barbarians had led the contest four wins and a draw to three defeats before the two most recent humiliations in South Africa.

The Springboks, in the first seven matches against the Barbarians, averaged 19 points a match. In the last two, which are the only two ever played in South Africa, they have averaged 65 points.

It would be an understatement to say the fixture does not carry the gravitas it once did.

Springboks v Barbarians

Springboks vs Barbarians: Overall Record

Erasmus used the match as a training run to get players back in the action, but the day was one in which the Barbarians were lambs to the slaughter. The Boks enjoyed feasting on them and the South African rugby public always enjoys a Boks win, especially when 80 points are scored.

Springboks captain Siya Kolisi was enthusiastic about Norton and Vusi Moyo’s debuts and also the healthy state of South African rugby’s next generation of potential Boks.

The Boks play England on the 4th July at Ellis Park in their opening Nations Championship match.

SPRINGBOKS – Tries: Edwill van der Merwe (3), Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese, Riley Norton, Cheslin Kolbe, JJ Kotze, Faf de Klerk, Jesse Kriel, André Esterhuizen, Zach Porthen. Conversions: Kolbe (9), Vusi Moyo.
BARBARIANS – Tries: Virimi Vakatawa, Franco Molina, Andrew Kellaway (2), TJ Perenara. Conversions: Tomás Albornoz (3).