Mzwandile Stick backs young Springbok debutants to seize Wales opportunity

The duo are two of four uncapped players who have been included in Rassie Erasmus' matchday 23 to face Wales at Kings Park Stadium in Durban on Saturday, earning their first international caps at 19 and 21, respectively.

Stick and the coaching team have been impressed by the pair's efforts in training with the squad this month and explained on Friday that the staff are no longer concerned about how much club experience players have but are more interested in how they adapt to their systems and workloads.

While Moyo and Williams shone for the Junior Boks last year, neither has a great deal of experience at the URC level, with the former making his debut in the final round of the season whilst the latter made six appearances in the most recent campaign with the Sharks after earning two the season prior.

"The way Rassie manages things, the players understand. Sometimes we select the team two weeks before the game. So the team that played against Scotland, even the week before, knows who was going to be in the team," the Springboks assistant coach explained.

"Again, I know it's tough sometimes not to be in the match 23 as a player, but the way the players have been accepting how we operate as a coaching staff is great. That's why you see a lot of guys are being rewarded.

"A guy like Vusi has probably only played one URC game and all of a sudden now he's making his Test debut. Sometimes you don't have to play 50 URC matches to become a Springbok; you get rewarded off how you handle our system. Yes, there's potential, but I always tell guys it's not easy to handle how we operate; it's a very tough environment.

"So for youngsters like Vusi and Jaco Williams to be able to handle the workload that we give them. Some of the players get rewarded on how they operate in our system. Carlu Sadie, everyone knows what he has achieved with this club in France. We worked with him in the Junior Boks; everyone knew that he had the potential. As coaches, it's always nice to see the players getting rewarded."

The assistant coach further praised Moyo for his mindset and maturity while likening Williams to double World Cup-winning winger Makazole Mapimpi.

"Vusi won the World Cup last year with the Junior Boks and was probably supposed to be there this year, but the opportunity came for him to be part of our team," he said.

"Some of these youngsters the way they are so mature alreadyâ¦. I think about myself as a 19-year-old; there's no way I can compare myself to where Vusi is currently, mindset-wise. He's just a mature young kid.

"And then Jaco Williams from Somerset East. I had to Google the last Springboks from that region; I think it was 1955. You look at Makazole Mapimpi's story, I think Jaco Williams' storyline and where he comes from, you wouldn't think that a Springbok comes from that region.

"For him to be where he is now, as a young kid, 21 years old, to get an opportunity to play, it's a very, very special story. We always talk about the story of Mapimps; I think Jaco Williams' story is one for the future - it's going to be something special to talk about. Good kid, I enjoy working with him. I'm excited to see what they're going to do."

Furthermore, Stick does not see any late changes to the Springboks team this week after Erasmus made last-minute alterations for the both of the matches at Ellis Park and Loftus Versfeld. In fact, he said that several players have returned to training.

"During the week, we had a few guys join our training session. Siya was back after his hamstring injury; he is starting to recover well. He was training for the first time with the team," he said.

"Canan Moodie was supposed to play in Pretoria; he is also with the team. Otherwise, with the matchday 23 that we selected, I don't think there will be any changes. I think everyone is fine. The captain run went well today, but otherwise Pieter-Steph is our captain, so he'll be there tomorrow."

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