Rassie Erasmus says flyhalf Handre Pollard ‘is not superman’ but hints at return

Rassie Erasmus warned fit-again fly-half Handre Pollard “is not superman” as he called for perspective in the wake of South Africa’s costly goal-kicking issues against Ireland.

The Springboks slipped to a narrow 13-8 defeat to the world’s top-ranked team on Saturday evening in Paris as they paid a heavy price for a string of squandered penalties.

Scrum-half Faf de Klerk was off target with two long-range kicks, while fly-half Manie Libbok wasted another, in addition to a conversion.

The expensive misses increased calls for the return of Pollard, who was a key man as his country won the tournament in 2019 and was added to Jacques Nienaber’s squad last weekend after overcoming a calf problem.

Springboks director of rugby Erasmus confirmed the 29-year-old Leicester player is in contention to start against Tonga next Sunday in Marseille but feels it is unfair to expect miracles.

“Everyone must keep it in perspective,” Erasmus told a media conference on Sunday.

“Handre Pollard is not superman and can’t come back as fully ready after playing only 30 minutes of rugby since his injury.

“He can’t just come on to the field to kick goals, he must also be able to sidestep, hand-off, make tackles, clean out at the ruck and that’s obviously not the case now because he has only had a full week’s training with us.

“That’s why he wasn’t up for selection for the squad in the first place, but he is definitely up for selection this week.

“Let’s give Handre a chance to find his rhythm and see how he does with the other stuff. Tonga will be a great yardstick to see how he goes.”

Libbok also struggled from the tee in South Africa’s opening Pool B win over Scotland, leading to captain Siya Kolisi passionately coming to his defence.

The 26-year-old had previously endured issues in the run-up to the tournament.

“Manie is definitely playing brilliant fly-half rugby at this stage but obviously his goal-kicking isn’t matching that,” said Erasmus.

“If you weigh up the different things he does, he makes a great contribution to the team, but he is in a bit of a dip with his goal-kicking.

“He knows it, we know it and the world knows it.”