Springbok attack coach Tony Brown said the André Esterhuizen 'hybrid' experiment has become a big success for the Boks.
What started as an experiment is now a massive weapon for the Springboks, according to attack coach Tony Brown, after André Esterhuizen’s star “hybrid” showing off the bench against France in Paris last weekend.
Earlier this year, inside centre Esterhuizen played off the bench as a flank in the Boks’ season opener against the Barbarians in Cape Town.
He then experienced his first stint as fulfilling a proper dual “hybrid” role in the Test against Italy in Gqeberha, a game in which he started at 12, but was soon getting in among the forwards and doing his back duties as well after Jasper Wiese was red carded in the 20th minute.
He started at centre against the Wallabies at Ellis Park, and a week later in Cape Town was named as a loose forward replacement and came on at flank for Franco Mostert in the second half.
Against the All Blacks in Wellington and Argentina in Durban, Esterhuizen was named as a back replacement and came on in the midfield in both those games.
Incredible versatility
He had thus already shown his versatility over the season before his impressive cameos over the past two weeks off the bench against Japan and particularly against France, after being named as a loose forward replacement in both games.
Against Japan at Wembley he emerged early in the second half for captain Siya Kolisi, and played the rest of the game as a forward, while against France this last weekend he played the dual “hybrid” role, as he did against Italy, coming on for Damian de Allende early in the second half, but also filling in up front as a flank following the red card to Lood de Jager.
“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,” explained Brown at a Bok press conference on Monday.
“Getting the red card (on Saturday) and having André 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 go through the Test season.”
Bok flank Marco van Staden was also at the presser on Monday and was asked if Esterhuizen could now be considered as one of the forwards after his try-scoring exploits against Japan and France, and answered with an emphatic yes.
Genuine forward
“I think Andre is definitely a genuine forward now. Against Japan he scored around the corner (off a ruck) with the forwards, and now (against France) he scored off a maul. We just need to get his ears ugly and then he will be a proper forward,” said Van Staden with a chuckle.
Brown was quizzed on whether the success of Esterhuizen as a “hybrid” would now see other international sides looking to do the same, after seeing the clear benefits of the role.
“Yeah definitely. I think a lot of countries have players who can jump between forwards and backs. 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,” said Brown.
“The versatility that André provides is huge for us. It allows us to go 6-2 or 7-1 splits on the bench. So I think 100% a lot of other (international) teams will start adding a player to their squad with similar attributes.”
