Riley Norton was set to make his Springbok debut against England at Ellis Park on Saturday before suffering a Grade Three hamstring tear in the penultimate move of a training session, ruling the 20-year-old lock out for eight to ten weeks.
Erasmus confirmed on Tuesday that Norton had done enough during his 80-minute outing against the Barbarians to earn a starting berth for the Nations Championship opener, with the plan also to return him to the Junior Springboks for their U20 Championship playoffs after the Test.
"The plan was to play him in this game and then send him back to the Junior Boks for their playoffs," Erasmus said. "Riley's injury is a real setback, man. He really fit in well."
The injury was straightforward rather than contact-related. "He just pulled his hamstring while chasing. It wasn't a weird incident. He just pulled it."
Norton's absence deepens an already serious second-row injury crisis. Franco Mostert is sidelined with an ankle injury — Erasmus expects him back within two to three weeks — while Lood de Jager was unavailable this week due to illness. The knock-on effect leaves South Africa without a specialist lock on the bench against England.
Erasmus acknowledged the pattern is becoming a concern: "The locks are certainly getting injured in our environment." He also pointed to the step up in training intensity as a possible factor in Norton's injury, noting that junior players joining the senior camp may struggle to sustain the physical demands across an extended block of preparation.