Rassie explains why he is not ready to discard Handre Pollard
REACTION: Handré Pollard may have come in for some merciless critique, but Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is not yet ready to discard him to the scrapheap.
Pollard’s form in the United Rugby Championship play-offs, more particularly the semifinal and Final, is cause for concern, given the number of uncharacteristic errors.
The revered double World Cup-winning flyhalf admitted his performances need to improve.
In the Bulls’ 7-36 loss to Leinster in the URC Final at Páirc an Chrócaigh this past Friday, the 32-year-old made just five carries, for 25 metres, 10 passes with no offloads or linebreaks.
While he slotted his only kick at goal in the Final, his four misses in the semifinal also raised concern.
On the plus side, Pollard made 14 tackles in the Final, but also missed three.
There were also three turnovers.
Erasmus, despite the criticism and statistics, has strongly defended Pollard.
Erasmus, speaking to the media after the Boks’ 80-31 rout of the Barbarians club in Port Elizabeth, said it is never easy to judge a player on franchise form.
(Continue below ….)
The coach added that a slump in form does not make him a bad player.
“I have worked with him since 2018,” Erasmus said of a player who was instrumental in both the 2019 and 2023 World Cup victories.
“Some guys in some structures, like the Sharks who did do well this year,” Erasmus said of the Springbok-laden Durban-based franchise.
“When we get them here, we know what we have in them, and they understand our game plan.
“It is difficult to sometimes select players based on franchise form.
“You don’t know the set-up, the team spirit, what happened that week. Are they all in sync? Are they all happy?”
Erasmus admitted Pollard ‘didn’t shoot the lights out’ with his performance in the Dublin Final.
“He has never not performed for us; he has always been solid for the Springboks,” the coach added.
“A lot of people have a lot to say about that [Pollard’s form].
“We know what he can do. He is not an old guy.
“Why would he all of a sudden play badly? Is there an injury? There is no injury.
“Maybe it is just one of those things. For one or two weeks, he wasn’t great.”
Pollard himself has acknowledged the frustrations of the fans, viewing their reactions as a sign of how much they care about the team rather than as a purely negative distraction
@JanDKrugby
@rugby365com
Register your interest to receive priority updates on RWC27 ticket releases. Don't miss out, stay in the loop!
