Barbarians ask Rassie Erasmus to mediate scrum truce with Springboks guru Daan Human

A fully functioning set-piece will always be an issue for hastily assembled Barbarians ahead of their match against Springboks on Saturday.

It’s why they jokingly tried to call for some sort of truce at the scrum time following the Springboks’ declarations that they are treating the match at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium as a “Test match”.

“Wait…does this mean we have to push in the scrums now? No gentleman’s agreement?” the official Barbarians account posted on X.

Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus joined the banter, saying he would ask his scrum coach Daan Human, to which the Baabaas asked which wine the often serious Human, who is known as a no-nonsense operator who loves to wear bucket hats, would prefer.

The banter is set to continue on the socials this week, as the Barbarians are normally good fun. The Springboks, however, are taking their season opener quite seriously.

“We see it as a Test match and we will play the game that way,” attack coach Tony Brown said on Monday.

“The Barbarians are a famous side worldwide. Everyone knows how they play, what they try to do and the style they must uphold as a Barbarians team. We are aware of what’s coming. It is unpredictable rugby that you can’t really prepare for.

“But if your awareness is high in what they are trying to do, we can prepare as well as we can. It is definitely a different challenge from what we normally would have (at the start of the season). They have always knocked over plenty of great sides over the years.

“The challenge is massive and that is exactly what we want for our first ‘Test’ of the year. It won’t be Barbarians vs Barbarians; it will be Springboks vs Barbarians. Everything we do will be about how we play Test rugby and how we are going to win the game.”

The Baabaas landed in a wet and windy Cape Town on Sunday. They are yet to confirm their full squad ahead of the match, but had a light training session after arriving in the Mother City.

Former All Blacks captain Sam Cane is one of the big names confirmed for the match, and in true Barbarians spirit said they had a few beers to try and get over the jet lag.

“It’s always great to be back in Cape Town. Was really honoured to get the invite to come and play for the Baabaas,” Cane told SuperSport TV.

“We assembled yesterday and had a training run just to get the body moving and come up with a few moves. We went out for dinner and had a few beers, which helped us sleep!

“One of the beauties of rugby is connection and meeting people from different parts of the world and bonding over a game of rugby. It’s what the week’s about. But ultimately we still want to put out an awesome performance against the Boks on Saturday too.”

@JohnGoliath82