Rassie’s vision to turn Esterhuizen into a hybrid player paid off against France

Rassie Erasmus and the Springbok coaching staff are well known for their innovations and constant search to view rugby differently, and it has often paid off.

From 6-2 and 7-1 benches, scrums from marks, wings and scrumhalves being used as jumpers in lineouts, or even throwing in at lineouts, colour-coded lights to send messages, midfield mauls, and first-half tactical substitutions to wholesale, simultaneous subs (the Bomb Squad), Erasmus and his cohorts push boundaries.

Most work well, some don’t at all, but innovation is encouraged. No idea is too outrageous to put on the table, although not all see the light of day. There are limits, even for Rassie and co.

Earlier this year Erasmus revealed that 1.93-metre, 115kg centre André Esterhuizen would adopt a “hybrid” role in which he would also be used as a flank.

At first glance, it’s not unique. Damian de Allende has often scrummed at flank after a loose forward’s sin-binning.

Several other teams have done something similar, too. But those are short-term, stop-gap measures that all teams need to employ occasionally when forced into them.

The Esterhuizen situation was different because Erasmus wanted it to be a tactical plan to improve the team, give it more balance in certain games and, crucially, perform a dual role in the event of a red card.

And against Les Bleus at the Stade de France last Saturday, the plan paid off after lock Lood de Jager was red-carded in the 39th minute.

Esterhuizen played the entire second half, generally at flank when the Boks were on attack and at centre when they defended — especially off the set piece.

He was perfectly primed to fulfil two roles with the Boks down a man, and it played a significant role in the Boks dominating the second half despite having 14 men on the field. They outscored France 19-3 after half-time, with Esterhuizen scoring a try from a rolling maul.

Officially, captain Siya Kolisi made way for lock Ruan Nortjé, but it was actually for Esterhuizen, who took over on the side of the scrum.

“I want to say thank you to our captain, who was taken off because André (Esterhuizen) can play loose forward and centre, which was a tough call. But when I told him, he just took it on the chin and understood,” Erasmus said after the game.

Kolisi, who was celebrating his 100th Test cap, took the decision with good grace.

“When the coach came to ask me, he was really sad,” Kolisi said. “You have to put emotions aside in this. Because I knew putting a No 5 lock on, because we lost Lood, he makes all the calls. Him and the 10 and the 9 are probably the most important people.”

Preparation and planning

Creative ideas are one thing, but real innovation is taking the idea and building a plan around it, which involves preparation.

In 2009, Italy coach Nick Mallett decided to try flank Mauro Bergamasco at scrumhalf in a Six Nations Test against England. Italy had a scrumhalf injury crisis and Mallett opted to approach the problem in a different way.

Theoretically it was a decent idea. The athletic Bergamasco could offer physicality that a genuine scrumhalf lacked. The problem was that implementing the idea in a game without proper planning and preparation set Bergamasco up to fail. It ended up being a disaster.

Similarly, when Harry Viljoen was Bok coach, he instructed his players not to kick the ball at all when they met Argentina in Buenos Aires in 2000. His idea was to surprise the Pumas with ball in hand and with pace.

Read more: Masterclass in misdirection: Why the Springboks’ hybrid player strategy will keep opponents guessing

Again, it was a decent idea in theory, and it worked for a while as the Boks scored a few good tries and ran into a 24-10 lead at the River Plate Stadium.

Because the players had spent almost no time training for Viljoen’s idea though, both in terms of tactical approach and fitness, the plan started to unravel.

By the second half they were fatigued and making horrendous errors yet doggedly stuck to the plan. Eventually the instruction came down to kick when the Boks were on the ropes. It was the 73rd minute. The Boks won 37-33. Viljoen never tried it again.

Innovation is good. But it needs clarity.

Hybrids

Enter Erasmus and co. In June the wider rugby world caught sight of Esterhuizen on the flank against the Barbarians in Cape Town.

Given the identity of the opposition, the initial reaction was that it was an “exhibition match” gimmick. Afterwards Erasmus made it clear that it was a specific plan to give the Boks more tactical flexibility.

The word “hybrid” made its first appearance in the Boks’ lexicon, although many players fall into that broad category.

“You can have two ways of looking at it. When you have a 6-2 split (between forwards and backs), you have Kwagga (Smith) covering the wing,” Erasmus said. “But now, we’re just doing it the other way around — where you have a back covering a forward position, like André covering flanker.

“So if you have three backline injuries, a guy like André gives us the options now, because he has been training with the forwards and backs.

“We started chatting to him (André) about five months ago, just to make sure he is a backline player who can also play forward,” Erasmus said.

“(Coach) Felix Jones handles his load very well in how much he does with the forwards and how much he does with the backs.”

Against France this past weekend, Esterhuizen was even more prepared. He has clocked up many hours in the position on the training field.

In short, he and the team were prepared.

“In the changing room, obviously at half-time, we made some plans around the lineouts and what we want to do and what we want to achieve,” Esterhuizen said. “We stuck to those plans and luckily I could come up and cover 6 and 12, which made the lineouts easier.”

Graphic: Jon Cardinelli

While the Boks have several utility players (see graphic), only Smith and Esterhuizen can comfortably move between forwards and backs. And even within that, Smith is not as seamless in the back division as Esterhuizen has become in the pack.

Esterhuizen’s performance and inclusion was vital at the weekend in the context of the red card.

It worked because he has the right physical profile and has spent months adapting to two key roles. This has not happened by chance or through emergency, but via clear planning underpinned by the spirit of innovation. DM