The reasons behind Erasmus' faith in Moyo
Since being named in the Nations Championship squad, there has been a sense of excitement around Vusi Moyo.
This weekend, the Sharks flyhalf will make his Test debut when South Africa take on Wales in round three of the Nations Championship in Durban on Saturday.
The 20-year-old was part of the Junior Springboks side that won the World Rugby U20 Championship last year.
Moyo got his first taste of senior international rugby a few weeks ago when he came off the bench against the Barbarians at the Nelson Mandela Stadium.
The flyhalf kicked the final conversion in the Springboks’ 80-31 victory.
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Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus believes the young playmaker has the attributes to succeed at Test level.
“You get a really skilful 10 and sometimes you get a small, nippy 10. Sometimes, when Handre Pollard was a young guy coming through, he was a guy that took it to the line. So all 10s have got different things and sometimes a guy gets away with being small but being nippy.
“I think Vusi, for his age, he’s a really big boy. Certainly in training sessions, he doesn’t stand back from the physical side of the game,” Erasmus told reporters.
“He’s nice and calm. It’s Test rugby, so he will be tested in that.
“He’s a wonderful kicker of the ball. He kicks great. The way he kicks off, restarts. He kicks to touch great and to the poles, but that has not been in Test matches, so we want to see him in a Test match.
“He showed in training sessions and also in the Barbarians game, he definitely showed a lot there. I think he’s got really good hands for a big man.”
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Moyo is one of four uncapped players in South Africa’s starting XV for the match. He is joined by fellow Sharks back Jaco Williams, while lock Ruben van Heerden and prop Carlu Sadie are also set to make their Test debuts.
“I always thought Williams was a nippy guy and he’s just a finisher.
“However, he’s certainly a guy that brings it on the physical side of things as well. For a guy that’s 20 years old, he’s a powerful player.
“He’s not a huge guy but he’s a really powerful player and a guy with a lot of speed.”
Erasmus admitted he considered selecting a more experienced side, including captain Siya Kolisi, but chose to manage the squad with next month’s away Test against Argentina in mind.
“What we wanted to do is firstly make sure that we pick a team that has the possibility to beat Wales, but then secondly also give some younger guys a chance again.
“We were hoping and thinking of playing guys like Siya and so on in this game, but all of them have got a niggle. I know I’ve been saying this week on week that they’re really close.
“But our common sense just says, next week is off and then we have Argentina away, and all those guys will definitely be ready for that game.
“So we thought let’s wait another week and pick all of those guys for a very tough away Test match against Argentina.”
