Faf de Klerk gives verdict on Springboks scrum-half rival after contrasting games in underwhelming Italy win

Springboks scrum-half Morne van den Berg in action against Italy and fellow number nine Faf de Klerk.

Springboks playmaker Faf de Klerk has hailed his scrum-half rival after Morne van den Berg’s starring performance in their victory over Italy.

South Africa overcame the Azzurri 42-24 on Saturday with the Lions star’s display absolutely crucial in the hosts’ dominant first-half display.

Van den Berg’s all-round game was exceptional as he grabbed two tries and kicked accurately to help the Boks open up a 28-3 advantage at the interval.

He was taken off after 54 minutes to give De Klerk the opportunity to play his first Test in almost a year.

Bomb Squad struggles

While the half-back himself produced a decent performance, the 33-year-old was part of a ‘Bomb Squad’ that surprisingly malfunctioned.

But despite the disappointment of the Springboks’ bench impact, De Klerk was willing to offer effusive praise for the player who could have cemented the number nine jersey going forward.

“He’s a fantastic player,” he told SuperSport.

“I’m really glad he’s taking the opportunities he’s getting. He’s doing really well for the Lions and showing his quality now. He’s a great guy and wants to learn as much as he can, so it’s always awesome having that guy in the squad.”

Following a dominant first half, Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks were left disappointed at the end of the match.

“There’s going to be disappointment in our performance,” De Klerk said. “There was some good stuff and some bad things we can work on. Credit to Italy, they really made it hard for us, especially at the breakdown.

“We couldn’t get that momentum going, and I thought their forwards were phenomenal. Definitely some things we’ll need to look at in the week and fix before the next Test.”

The captain’s view

Captain for the day Jesse Kriel agreed with the scrum-half over their work at the contact area and wants it rectified in the second Test next weekend.

“We let ourselves down at the breakdown a bit. I thought they slowed our ball down pretty well. We obviously wanted to attack off quick ball there, but we couldn’t get that at stages in the game,” Kriel said.

“But looking forward to the Test match next week, it is set up nicely and lots of work for us to do before then.”

He added: “We had a tough few weeks of pre-season here and the guys are really excited to be playing again. Just so special being back at Loftus, it’s a very special ground and we love playing rugby here in front of our home fans.”