Kermit Erasmus plays his first minutes of the new French Ligue 1 season

15 August 2016 - 13:57 By Nick Said

Former Orlando Pirates striker Kermit Erasmus played his first minutes of the new French Ligue 1 season when he came off the bench for Stade Rennes in their 1-0 defeat at Nice. Erasmus was used sparingly in his first six months in France following a January move from The Buccaneers‚ with the intention always that this would be his breakthrough season at the club.He will want to notch up his first goal soon to take that pressure off‚ but could not find the back of the net in the 12 or so minutes he was on the pitch this weekend.Andile Jali remains sidelined with an ankle injury that leaves him as a major doubt for Bafana Bafana’s final African Nations Cup qualifier against Mauritania early next month.'At the moment I don't see myself playing for Bafana,' says Kermit Erasmus Kermit Erasmus has ruled himself out of Bafana Bafana contention “at the moment.” It was therefore a disappointing weekend for South Africa’s representatives in Belgium‚ with Ayanda Patosi left on the bench by Lokeren‚ and Anele Ngcongca (Genk)‚ Phakamani Mngadi and Ntuthuko Radebe (both Eupen) not used by their clubs.Lebogang Phiri did play for his Danish side Brondby as they continued their fine start to the new season with a 4-0 triumph over SønderjyskE‚ but Mandla Masango remains exiled at Randers.Masango has opted out of training with the first team after the club refused him a move away from the team in this transfer window.It is a saga that has been going on close to a month and shows no sign of ending.Erasmus's take two to excel in EuropeCoach Eric Tinkler has sounded like a muppet and appeared like a puppet on a string as he holds on to being mentioned in the same sentence as Orlando Pirates Football Club. Neither Bongani Zungu or Thibang Phete were included in the match day squad for Vitoria Guimaraes as they lost their Portuguese league opener to Braga‚ though it is no surprise given that both have only recently returned from long-term injuries and need to build up their fitness.Kamohelo Mokotjo played for FC Twente in their 2-0 Dutch league loss to Feyenoord‚ but Thulani Serero remains out in the cold at Ajax Amsterdam.Tefu Mashamaite (Hacken) and Surprise Ralani (Helsingborg) both started for their respective Swedish league teams‚ but ended up on the losing side.It was a better weekend for Daylon Claasen‚ who made his first start of the campaign for German Bundesliga II club 1860 Munich as they won 1-0 at home to Arminia Bielefeld.Kermit Erasmus joins French club Stade RennaisKermit Erasmus has left Orlando Pirates to join French League 1 side, Stade Rennais. And former Bafana left-back Ricardo Nunes grabbed his first goal of the campaign as his Polish side Pogoń Szczecin thumped ŁKS Nieciecza 5-0.Ex-Ajax Cape Town midfielder Granwald Scott played for the reserves at Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava this weekend having been used sparingly in the campaign so far.Finally‚ Dino Ndlovu completed his move to Qarabağ in Azerbaijan over the weekend and can now look forward to making his debut for his new side.They face Swedish side IFK Goteborg in the UEFA Europa League this Thursday‚ but that may come too soon for the Bafana striker. - TMG Digital..

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