Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus still backs Handre Pollard to shine for the national side, even though his form has dipped alarmingly over the past fortnight.
While Pollard’s struggles have been well documented as the Bulls failed to break their duck in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, there is a further worry since he is considered a dead shot for the Boks. And with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu out of the Nations Championship tests, there are fears that Pollard may be a concern ahead of the international season.
With Manie Libbok’s form in Japan meaning he is a good bet to start against England, Pollard’s stocks have been wavering, but the Bok coach has backed him to come right.
“It’s tough to point fingers at someone when he plays for his franchise and you’ve worked so much with him, which I have since 2018. Some guys struggle a bit in certain structures,” Rassie said on his 10 who won the 2023 World Cup.
“Look at how the Sharks struggled (despite all their Springbok players). But we still get those players here because we know what we have in them and they understand our game plan.
“It’s difficult to sometimes make big decisions (to drop players) off franchise form, because you don’t know what the team spirit is like, what happened in that week (leading up to a game). Are the guys all in sync, and are they happy?”
Erasmus said he wouldn’t judge Pollard by his last few performances.
“Ackers (Johan Ackermann) is such a great coach. But obviously Handre didn’t shoot the lights out. But he’s never not done that for us. He has always been solid, so it’s difficult to judge.
“Obviously a lot of people have opinions about that. We know what he can do, he’s 31 so isn’t an old guy, so why would he all of a sudden become a bad player? He’s not injured, so maybe it was just one or two weeks where he wasn’t great.”
The Boks have included SA under-20 flyhalf Vusi Moyo in their plans for the Nations Championship and have Cheslin Kolbe, who kicked well at goals this past weekend. Damian Willemse is also an option at 10 if they need him.
But with Pollard’s age also a factor, the Bulls 10 will know the pressure is on him at the moment.