Rassie Erasmus Threw a Rookie at Fly-Half. It Was a Mixed Bag.

The Springboks ran up 80 points on the Barbarians on Saturday, but the scoreline tells you almost nothing about what Rassie Erasmus was actually trying to figure out. This was never about the final margin. It was about seeing who can handle the pressure of a Test match when the structure breaks down.

Edwill van der Merwe scored a hat-trick. Cheslin Kolbe kicked nine conversions. The scrum and maul bullied an undisciplined Baa-Baas side into submission after a brief scare. That part was predictable. What wasn’t predictable was Erasmus handing the No. 10 jersey to Quan Horn — a fullback who has never started a senior game at fly-half for the Lions.

Horn has a nice passing game and a big boot. Those skills showed up in flashes. But he also got steamrolled by Alex Nankivell on the play that led to Virimi Vakatawa’s try, and his positioning looked hesitant for stretches. He made a few questionable decisions with ball in hand. The raw tools are there. The game management is not ready for England.

Kolbe handled the goal-kicking, which worked fine in this setting. He’s been hitting at 81 percent in Japan and went perfect from the tee here. But the bigger question is who kicks when Kolbe isn’t on the field. That’s a problem Erasmus hasn’t solved yet.

Riley Norton looked like he belongs

The U20 captain who hasn’t played a pro minute for the Stormers came on and did things that surprised people. His work in the tight was noticeably polished for a 20-year-old lock. He didn’t shy away from contact. He got low in the maul and held his ground in the scrum. The kid looks destined for a long Springboks career, but let’s not rush it. Development is a marathon, not a one-off against a hungover invitational side.

The back-row is still the back-row

Jasper Wiese looks fit and sharp after another season in Japan. Siya Kolisi delivered a beautiful pass for Van der Merwe’s first try. Pieter-Steph du Toit was everywhere, even if he did miss a few tackles. These three are still the guys. The succession plan can wait another cycle. When they play wide under Tony Brown’s system, they create mismatches that most teams can’t handle.

Yellow cards nearly undid the Boks

Grant Williams got binned for a deliberate knock-on. During those 10 minutes, the Barbarians scored three tries in six minutes and turned a 35-7 blowout into a 35-28 game that felt alive. The midfield defense was a mess — Andre Esterhuizen and Jesse Kriel kept biting in and leaving space on the outside. TJ Perenara exploited it ruthlessly.

But here’s the thing. The Barbarians couldn’t keep it going. A needless mistake off the restart let Kolbe score while South Africa was still down to 14 men, and that broke the momentum. After halftime, even with Aphelele Fassi in the bin for a spell, the Boks went back to basics. Maul. Scrum. Push people around. The visitors had nothing left in the second half. The week of partying caught up.

Perenara was a lot

Look, you want competitive players in a friendly. TJ Perenara was clearly desperate to beat South Africa for the first time since 2024, and his energy was admirable at first. But the constant complaining at referee Morne Ferreira crossed a line. Ferreira actually called him a “legend of the game” trying to calm him down, as if flattery would work. It didn’t. Perenara kept going. In a real Test match, that second yellow card probably comes out. He should count himself lucky this was an exhibition.