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There are no red warning lights flashing or any concerns about the form of flyhalf Handré Pollard despite him not shooting the lights out for the Bulls in recent outings, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said. Questions have been raised about Pollard’s readiness for the Boks after the Bulls were crushed 36-7 by Leinster in the United Rugby Championship final at Croke Park in Dublin last week.South Africa need an in-form Pollard in the mix when they face a powerful England in their opening game of the Nations Championship at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on July 4.Speaking after his team beat the Barbarians in Gqeberha last week, Erasmus said Pollard has always been solid for the Springboks and all the coaches in the national squad know what the Bulls pivot is capable of achieving in a green and gold jersey.The three flyhalves named by Erasmus in a 46-man squad to face England are Pollard, Manie Libbok and Vusi Moyo. Rising Lions star Quan Horn, who started at No 10 for the Boks against the Barbarians in Gqeberha, has been named as a utility back.“It is tough to point fingers at somebody who plays at his franchise, and you have worked so much with him [Pollard] since 2017,” Erasmus said.Obviously [Handre] did not shoot the lights out [at Bulls], but he has never not done it for [Springboks]— Rassie Erasmus“The Sharks didn’t do very well this year in the United Rugby Championship, but we get their players here [at the Springboks] and we know what we have in them. We know they [the Sharks players] understand our game plan. “Sometimes it is difficult to pick from a franchise form because you do not know the setup and what the team spirit is. What happened in that week [at their franchise team] and are they all happy?“And we know Johann Ackermann is such a great coach [at the Bulls].Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus (David Rogers) “Obviously Handré did not shoot the lights out, but he has never not done it for us. He has always been solid for the Springboks. It is difficult to judge, and we know a lot of people will have a lot of comments about that.“We know what he can do. Handre is 31 and he is not an old guy. Why all of a sudden would he play badly when there is no injury? Maybe it is just one of those one or two weeks when he was not great.”Erasmus said he had been impressed by Horn’s display against the Barbarians.“One of Quan’s strengths is his defence, and the first try came from a guy who ran over him,” Erasmus said. “But the nice thing is that he kept his focus. He had some nice passes and made tries for guys and kicked really well to touch.“That is what this game was all about: sorting out some problems and getting some answers. So overall I think Quan did really well.”The Bok squad to face England includes 28 forwards and 18 backline players, with Paul de Villiers (flanker), Riley Norton (lock/loose forward), Ruben van Heerden (lock) and Carlu Sadie (prop) being the four uncapped forwards, while Moyo (flyhalf) and Jaco Williams (wing) are the two new backs in a largely experienced squad.The match against England will be followed by clashes against Scotland in Pretoria (July 11) and Wales in Durban (July 18) before the Boks travel to Buenos Aires to play a one-off Test against Los Pumas (August 8).“We are pleased with the quality of the group we have selected, and it’s also exciting to see the next generation of players coming through in Riley, Vusi, Paul, Carlu, Ruben and Jaco,” Erasmus said.“They all proved against the Barbarians and Zimbabwe teams that they have what it takes to play at the highest level and as coaches we are fortunate that we’ve had the opportunity to work with them in the past two weeks.”
