Barbarians coach Robbie Deans believes the future is bright for South Africa rugby, despite his scratch side holding the Springboks to a dramatic 31-31 draw at Wembley on Saturday.
An already tough year for South Africa threatened to get worse when they were 31-19 down with just nine minutes left in their European tour opener.
However, an unfamiliar-looking side — several first-choice players were missing ahead of next weekend’s Test against England across London at Twickenham — squared the match after centers Francois Venter and Rohan Janse van Rensburg both crossed late on.
Photo: Reuters
Their efforts completed a 10-try thriller that saw Australia’s Luke Morahan, a second-half replacement, score two for the Barbarians.
It has been just over a year since South Africa came within two points of eventual champions New Zealand in a gripping World Cup semi-final at Twickenham.
However, under Allister Coetzee, who replaced Heyneke Meyer as coach after the World Cup, they have lost five of their past 10 matches, including a record 57-15 defeat by New Zealand in Durban, South Africa, last month.
Nevertheless, Deans said: “South Africa are always thereabouts. They were the closest team to beating the All Blacks at the last World Cup and they will be right there in the next one [in Japan in 2019].”
“Because of the expectations of the nation, they’ll find a way to be competitive,” the former Australia coach added.
The worth of a non-cap Barbarians international has been questioned in a professional era where star players are often unavailable because of club or country commitments, but not by Deans.
“The Barbarians fixture is unique. It’s given a young group an opportunity to show that they can play at this level,” he said.
He stressed Saturday’s match would have done a lot for South Africa.
“They got the equivalent of an international, which puts them in a much better place for next week,” he said.
The Barbarians forced numerous turnovers thanks to a New Zealand back row of Luke Whitelock, Jordan Taufua and Brad Shields who have just one All Blacks cap — won by Whitelock against Japan in 2013 — between them.
It was a point emphasized by Coetzee, who said: “The most disappointing thing was the amount of possession we turned over... That is something we’ll have to work hard on.”
However, Coetzee was pleased by his side’s rally from 31-19 down.
“The players showed great fighting spirit to come back. I think the other pleasing aspect was the fact we scored five tries,” he said.
Coetzee added fullback Jesse Kriel, replaced at halftime, would have a scan on knee and ankle “niggles.”
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