Rassie Erasmus 'moans' about Springbok defence despite drubbing Barbarians

The emphatic scoreline helped settle several selection questions for Erasmus, who also used the fixture to test combinations and hand opportunities to a number of emerging players.

One of the afternoon's standout performers was Quan Horn of the Lions, who impressed at fullback and also spent periods directing play from flyhalf, highlighting his adaptability.

"One of Quan's strengths is his defence and the first try came from a guy who ran over him. But the nice thing is it didn't take him off focus," said Erasmus.

"He certainly had some nice passes and made tries for guys, 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 he did really well."

However, the result was tempered by injury concern, with veteran lock Franco Mostert limping off in the second half. Erasmus later confirmed the issue is a genuine worry and suggested the victory may have come at a cost.

"I'm worried about his ankle," said the Bok coach. "He's going for scans tomorrow and hopefully it's not too bad. 'Sous' doesn't normally come off the field if it's not serious."

While the attacking display was commanding, Erasmus maintained that defensive lapses remain an issue that must be addressed despite the comprehensive margin of victory.

He added: "I think we have to remind ourselves that it's been six, seven months since we've played together and we were kind of puzzling guys in together not knowing when the Stormers or the Bulls would be available, so we had to keep it in the back of our minds.

"Cohesion wasn't 100%. Overall, boxes ticked and I won't moan too much about attack when you get 80 points. But the thing we have to moan about is the defence." 

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