Rassie Erasmus says André Esterhuizen is the “right man” to captain the Springboks against the Wallabies in Perth on Sunday.
Esterhuizen will become the 68th Bok captain after Erasmus made 13 changes to the starting XV that beat the All Blacks in Baltimore, with only lock Eben Etzebeth and winger Ethan Hooker retaining their places.
The 32-year-old, who will start at 12, has emerged as a valuable hybrid option for the Boks, featuring at both inside centre and flank, and Erasmus believes his contribution on and off the field has earned him the honour.
“He captained the Sharks [last season] and he has brought so much to our squad,” Erasmus said. “He thoroughly deserves this opportunity and we trust that he is the right man to take over the captaincy in this match.”
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Erasmus highlighted Esterhuizen’s willingness to put the team first.
“He’s been one of the players that really, whenever you ask something from him – being a hybrid player or playing behind Damian de Allende and Damian Willemse, sometimes not playing a lot and then accepting to play as a forward and a back – we just feel we would love to see him in this situation against a really strong Australian team.”
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The Bok coach was also impressed by the way Esterhuizen led the Sharks last season.
“We just feel the way he’s been carrying himself while he’s been the Sharks captain, when they went through a tough time, I really thought he pulled them together, obviously with [coach] JP [Pietersen] and the whole setup there.
“What he’s meant in our team, serving the team a hell of a lot, accepting that, ‘I’m now a flanker, I’m now a centre, now I’m playing off the bench, now I’m a loose forward’ – that’s the kind of player we enjoy in a team.”
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Erasmus explained why he hadn’t handed the captaincy to a player in the starting XV who had done the job before.
“We could have just given it to Eben [Etzebeth] again, but we know what Eben brings as a captain. A guy like Eben, captain or not, always brings the same attitude and a wise, calm head to the party. A guy like Handré [Pollard] will always know what he’s doing when he’s there.
“We just think being Bok captain, you suddenly feel how it feels to lead a country, and then you become better in supporting the other captain when he’s captain.
“We try to build our leadership group in that way.”
Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
