Rassie Erasmus’ ‘nervous’ verdict on Springboks’ debutant fly-half as he suffers ‘flat battery’
Springboks debutant fly-half Vusi Moyo and head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Rassie Erasmus ran the rule over young fly-half Vusi Moyo, who made his Test debut in the Springboks’ dominant victory over Wales on Saturday.
The 20-year-old was handed the playmaking reins for South Africa’s third game of the Nations Championship. Moyo played just under 50 minutes in that triumph, kicking three conversions, before he was replaced by the more experienced Manie Libbok.
Erasmus duly explained why he got the start over Libbok, why they made the change early in the second period and how the pivot performed against the Welsh.
‘You could see there were nerves’
“If we had started Manie and it was not going so well then it would be difficult to put the young guy and go and change the game.
“The thinking was starting him and then see how he copes with the intensity of the game, and I thought he had a flat battery when we changed him.
“He definitely played well. You could see there were nerves. He’s a really accurate kicker, he really kicks off well, but then you get into a Test match like this with a lot of people and suddenly you don’t kick it into the corners, you don’t kick it on the spot with the kick-offs.”
Moyo had only played one professional game prior to the 2026 Test season, featuring for the Sharks against Zebre in May, before he made his Boks debut in an uncapped game against the Barbarians.
Wales was his first Test, however, and Erasmus stated that it takes a mental toll on new players. “I’ve played in the first or second Test match and you get tired, the pressure gets to you and I thought he handled it extremely well,” he said.
“He performed nervously for me but that’s normal, he’s the youngest 10 ever that’s played for the Springboks; he’s six months younger than when Patrick Lambie made his debut. To make your debut against a tier one nation, it’s tough for a 19- or 20-year-old guy.”
Other debutants
The fly-half was one of four debutants in the Springboks XV, alongside prop Carlu Sadie, lock Ruben van Heerden and wing Jaco Williams. Erasmus was particularly pleased with Sadie and Van Heerden, who played a key role in South Africa’s set-piece improvement.
“They definitely carried really well. The lineouts were awesome, both hookers threw really well and Ruben playing his first Test match out there against a tier one nation, we didn’t lose a lineout ball.
“A guy like Sadie in the scrum, with Wilco (Louw) and Andre-Hugo (Venter), the same with Malcolm (Marx) and the guys who started there. Obviously, the locks and flankers play a big part in scrummaging as well.
“In the scrums, we weren’t really on our game previously. This game I thought it was good. Our maul-stopping and our mauling itself were good, that was something we wanted to get right. We did have a lot of fixes and we’re glad we got that.”
