Swiss Army Knife Esterhuizen becomes ninth new Springbok captain in Rassie era

Centre, flank, hybrid and now captain. André Esterhuizen wears many caps in the Springbok squad and the latest is reward for his selflessness and team-first attitude.

On Tuesday, coach Rassie Erasmus revealed that Esterhuizen would captain the Boks against the Wallabies in Perth on Sunday, becoming South Africa’s 68th Test skipper.

The giant, hard-running, no-nonsense all-rounder, Swiss army knife of a player, who has affectionately earned the nickname “Ganda-ganda” in Xhosa, meaning tractor, joins an illustrious and select group of men.

Esterhuizen is the ninth man to be asked to captain the team for the first time in the Erasmus era, starting in 2018 (Eben Etzebeth has captained the side under Erasmus, but made his captaincy debut in 2017).

It’s just another sign of the depth and inclusivity of the squad that of those 10 previous captains, including Etzebeth, eight of them are still available for selection.

“André’s been the Sharks’ captain. He’s been one of the players that whenever you ask something from him, whether it’s being a hybrid player or playing behind Damian de Allende and Damian Willemse, and then accepting to play as a forward and a backline player, he always puts the team first,” Erasmus said from Terrigal in New South Wales where the Boks are based.

“We would love to see André in this situation against a really strong Australian team. Obviously. We feel it’s not just the honour of him getting captaincy, but it will also help us as a team going forward into the World Cup, to have more guys that know what it feels like to lead the Springboks.

“The way André carried himself while being the Sharks’ captain when they went through a tough time was impressive. I really thought he sort of pulled them together with JP (Pietersen – coach) and the whole set-up there.

“What he has meant to us, serving the team a helluva lot and accepting his role as flanker or centre or playing off the bench, that’s the kind of players we enjoy in the team.”

Wholesale changes

There are only two survivors from the starting team that beat the All Blacks 43-28 in Baltimore to seal a 3-1 Greatest Rivalry series win. Etzebeth retains his place at lock while left wing Ethan Hooker also gets another chance as Erasmus looks to rotate and build depth.

Canan Moodie will join Esterhuizen in the midfield from the start while skilful fullback Aphelele Fassi and lightning wing Edwill van der Merwe are back in the mix.

Flyhalf Handré Pollard returns for the first time since July having overcome a calf muscle injury that ruled him out of the second Test against the All Blacks in Cape Town last month.

Scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies makes his first Test start since 2021.

Up front Marco van Staden starts at No 8, in a position the Boks view differently to the rest of the world. Erasmus reiterated that in his view, the only defining feature of the eighthman is where he scrums. Outside of that, his role is highly flexible.

Paul de Villiers is back at openside with Siya Kolisi rested, while Pieter-Steph du Toit also earns a rest with Elrigh Louw making a start in the No 7 jersey.

There is also a welcome return for lock Franco Mostert after an injury-plagued season limited his international appearances to a brief outing against the Barbarians in Gqeberha in June.

The front row of Zach Porthen, Johan Grobbelaar and Jan-Hendrik Wessels all have a chance to impress with vast experience waiting on the bench.

“Are we building towards the World Cup or are we trying to win in between World Cups too?” Erasmus said. “We’re trying to do both and sometimes you have to roll the dice.

“We rolled the dice against the All Blacks a little, and chose the same side three weeks in a row to build consistency during the series.

“But if we keep doing that (after the Greatest Rivalry series) how will we know what the next guy can do when we get to the Nations Championship or the World Cup?

“When we went to Argentina, a lot of these guys also played there and it was a bit stop-start and non-cohesive.

“I don’t think they’re going to fire from the start (on Sunday). But I can tell you that they’re really hungry. They really want to play and they’ve been idling for a hell of a long time.”

Bomb Squad

This team has not collectively played together much, and also individually some players are short of game time. Erasmus knows that it comes with risk, which is why he has stacked the Bomb Squad with Greatest Rivalry standouts.

The front row of Ox Nché, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw are waiting in reserve along with Lood de Jager and Jasper Wiese. The sight of those five players waiting to join the fray will certainly play on Wallaby minds.

Marx, Nché and Wiese all had a strong claim for player of the series against the All Blacks while De Jager is close to reaching his best having come through those New Zealand skirmishes strongly. Louw is simply the best tighthead in the world right now.

Wiese will earn his 50th Test cap for the Boks.

Behind the scrum, Morné van den Berg, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Quan Horn complete the backline reserves.

“We’ve been working closely with our Head of Athletic Performance, Andy Edwards, on how best to manage the players to get the most out of them in this important encounter,” Erasmus said.

“We had a few days off for the players’ bodies to recover from the last few Tests and also from the travel, so we had two days of training in Terrigal and resumed our usual Test week programme on Tuesday.

“This is going to be a big challenge against a team that has been playing good rugby, and who have won four of their last five matches with their other result being a draw against the Pumas in Argentina.

“The Wallabies also suffered a narrow defeat against Ireland in the Nations Championship and registered a comprehensive victory over Italy, and they will be playing in front of their home crowd, so we know a big game lies ahead.” DM

Team:

South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 André Esterhuizen (captain), 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marco van Staden, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ox Nché, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Morné van den Berg, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Quan Horn