Last Springbok captain Salman Murat believes a 64-21 triumph over Portugal in a one-off test on saturday head coach gave Rassie Erasmus a challenge he will enjoy.

“I’m very proud of everyone, especially the debutants. I think Rassie will have a tough job when he selects the Rugby Championship team,” Moerat said after an experimental team won.

The attackers Jean-Hendrik Wessels, Johan Grobbelaar and Phepsi Buthelezi were debutants and started as starters. The defenders Quan Horn and Morne van den Berg and the attackers Andre-Hugo Venter and Ruan Venter came from the bench.

Springboks had only 15 men for 3 minutes

The Springboks take a break after beating Wales, winning and losing to second-placed Ireland and topping Portugal before travelling to Australia for Tests on August 10 and 17.

All the newcomers in round 23 against Portugal impressed in Bloemfontein, with the home side scoring 10 goals despite having just 15 men on the pitch for just three minutes.

Centre André Esterhuizen received a yellow card in the third minute which was converted into a red card, and the winger Kurt-Lee Arendse and replacement back Quan Horn were thrown in prison twice, leaving South Africa with only 13 men.

With the gap between number 1 South Africa and number 15 Portugal at the final whistle being 43 points, the finalist praised Os Lobos (The Wolves).

“Portugal showed at the World Cup (2023) what quality they have and we saw that again tonight. I’m still trying to catch my breath when they took us from coast to coast (wing to wing).”

Moerat was appointed captain after many regular players, including captain Siya Kolisi, were rested. He said leading the Springboks was a “huge moment”.

“It will take me a while to realize how big it is to be captain for the first time. I am incredibly proud to represent my family and my community.

“Hopefully we have achieved something they are proud of.”

Portugal captain and midfielder Tomas Appleton admitted it was “difficult for us – a day of fighting against the best team in the world”.

“We had to step it up a notch and sometimes we didn’t perform as we wanted. This is a proud team and we really enjoyed the game and the atmosphere.”

How did you rate Salmaan Moerat’s performance?

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By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse