Tony Brown says André Esterhuizen is one of the Springboks’ most valuable assets.
The Bok attack coach says the powerhouse midfielder’s evolution into a hybrid forward-back has become a major tactical weapon for the world champions, allowing him to shift seamlessly between roles depending on the flow of the game.
“What started out as a little bit of an experiment with André, trying to get him to play loose forward and inside centre, has become a bit of a weapon for us,” Brown said.
And probably getting the red card [on Saturday against France] and having Andre on the bench – I don’t know if we could’ve asked for a better impact player who in that situation could go to the mauls, go to the scrums and then defend at inside centre when France had the ball. He’s getting better and better as we get through the Test season.”
Esterhuizen’s unique versatility proved critical during the Boks’ 32-17 win over France in Paris, when Lood de Jager’s red card forced them to adapt on the fly.
Brown believes Esterhuizen’s success in this dual role will inspire other nations to explore the same concept.
“Yeah definitely. I think a lot of countries have players who can jump between forwards and backs,” he said.
“Ardie Savea could easily play in the backs for the All Blacks, and there’s definitely a couple of French guys who have played in the backs who are now loose forwards.
“The versatility that Andre provides is huge for us and for sure some other countries will be adding a player to their squad with similar attributes.”
With the Boks set to face Italy in Turin on Saturday, Brown says the Azzurri’s upset win over the Wallabies is proof of how dangerous they can be when given space and momentum.
“Italy were outstanding against Australia, they’ve got massive threats at the breakdown and they’re just so dangerous when they get space and opportunity,” Brown said.
“We certainly won’t be taking them lightly and we’ll be putting out the best team possible that’ll be able to face them and we’ll prepare accordingly.”
Brown added that De Jager’s disciplinary hearing on Wednesday is at least part of the reason why Rassie Erasmus will only name his match 23 for Italy on Thursday and not on Monday as initially planned.
“Lood is part of the delaying of the team, but we’ve got a lot of sore bodies as well so that’s the reason for that,” he explained.
