Esterhuizen says Boks have good intel on Italy after July Tests
André Esterhuizen also spoke of his role as a hybrid player and how he had to adapt to the situation against France.
Springbok “hybrid” player André Esterhuizen said the Springboks will use the knowledge they gained from their two July victories over Italy to good effect against the Azzurri in Turin on Saturday.
Esterhuizen said this after the Boks’ 32–17 win over France in Paris, where he had to alternate between flanker and inside centre following a red card – something the team hadn’t planned, but had prepared for just in case.
He featured in a dominant Springbok scrum after coming on in the 48th minute, and even scored a try from a lineout drive to give South Africa the lead for the first time in the 65th minute.
It turned out to be a sensational final quarter for the Springboks, as they scored three unanswered tries to go with their solitary first-half score – aided by a Louis Bielle-Biarrey yellow card – and toppled France in Paris despite being a player down for the whole of the second half.
Captain Siya Kolisi described the performance as “special” as he recorded his 100th Test cap.
Esterhuizen adapts to both roles
“When we got the red card, the boys made good plans,” Esterhuizen said.
“We spoke at half-time about what we want to do. We wanted to stay on top of them physically, and we made plans in lineouts, scrums, etc., to be able to do that. Then we stuck together and executed the plan perfectly.”
He said the team spends the week before a match working out whether he will play more at flanker or at centre.
“Today, the plans changed a bit,” said Esterhuizen after the game.
“But normally, before the game, we know more or less whether I am covering more loose forward or centre. But you never know what happens in the game, like today [Saturday]. It can always change, but the good thing is we prepare for both situations.”
Springboks next after Italy beat Australia?
The hybrid’ player described Italy as an “unpredictable” team.
He alluded to South Africa’s 42-24 and 45-0 victories over them in Pretoria and Gqeberha, respectively, while also mentioning Italy’s 26-19 win over Australia in Udine on the weekend.
Louis Lynagh and Montanna Ioane both scored for the Azzurri while the Wallabies’ Joseph Suaalii was in the sin bin. Their tries ensured Italy’s win as they were able to keep Australia from scoring for the last 38 minutes of the game.
“It’s always a tough game against them,” Esterhuizen said. “We’ve played them earlier this year so I think we’ve got good knowledge of them. But this weekend they beat Australia.”
He said all five end-of-year matches were tough. Italy was no exception, despite being ranked 10th in the world.