Latest news with #AndréEsterhuizen
Daily Maverick
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Maverick
Masterclass in misdirection: Why the Springboks' hybrid player strategy will keep opponents guessing
The biggest takeaway from André Esterhuizen's ground-breaking cameo on the flank is that opposition coaches Scott Robertson, Fabien Galthié and Andy Farrell won't know what to expect when they tackle the Springboks later this season. Springbok fans have come to know and love the Bomb Squad, and all of its iterations. Since 2019, Rassie Erasmus has challenged the status quo by stacking his bench with some of the world's leading players. The split between forwards and backs has become a national talking point, with Erasmus deploying six and occasionally seven heavies from the bench to close out big matches. Like many of Erasmus' strategies, the Bomb Squad is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. While the Boks typically announce their team on a Tuesday, it's not always clear what Erasmus intends to do on matchday, and indeed, who will play where. Over the past seven seasons, locks have been used in the back row, flanks have been deployed at hooker, and Kwagga Smith — the 'OG' hybrid player — has switched from flank to wing. The modern game demands that every individual in a squad covers more than one position, and yet Erasmus and company have taken the utility concept further than any other side. If recent evidence is anything to go by, the Boks have unlocked the next level. Next level of hybrid player When the Boks played the Barbarians at the Cape Town Stadium last Saturday, Erasmus showed the world yet another tactical picture. Around the 45th minute, the Bok coach made eight substitutions simultaneously, which is in itself out of the ordinary. Specialist inside centre André Esterhuizen jogged onto the pitch with the rest of the subs — and at that point, the bench formation appeared to be a five-three split between forwards and backs. When the starting midfield combination of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel remained on the field, a few of us in the press box wondered if Kriel might shift to wing to accommodate the new centre. Up in the coaching box, Barbarians boss Robbie Deans may have been thinking along similar lines. But after the next scrum was set, it became clear that the 1.93m, 116kg Esterhuizen was playing flank rather than centre, and that South Africa's bench split was six-two rather than five-three. The forward-heavy formation provided the Boks with more power in the closing stages, and they continued to punish the Barbarians en route to an emphatic 54-7 victory. Misdirection and double bluffs In recent seasons, most of the Six Nations teams have favoured a forward-heavy bench, with France going as far as to copy and paste the Boks' seven-one formation that made its debut at the 2023 World Cup. Other teams have developed an answer to Smith — with Ben Earl covering centre as well as the back row for England. But until now, no one has been bold or crazy enough to use a backline player in the forwards. The Bok coaches and players have spoken at length about the tactic in recent days, as they prepare for the Test-season opener against Italy at Loftus Versfeld. The move could maximise the talents of Esterhuizen — who has been a fringe player within the national set-up since 2018 — and strengthen the Bomb Squad in the long term. Erasmus admitted as much at the team announcement this week. Esterhuizen is unlikely to get much game time as a specialist inside centre, given Damian de Allende's hold on the No 12 jersey. But as a hybrid player with the rare ability to cover backline and forward positions, Esterhuizen could become more of a feature in South Africa's matchday squad in seasons to come. Does this mean that Erasmus has revealed his hand, or will it add yet another layer to the guessing game that precedes every Bok team announcement? More significantly, will it force opposition coaches and analysts to invest more time and energy into exploring potential scenarios, whenever they receive the South African teamsheet? Bok assistant coach Daan Human broached the subject earlier this week, confirming that the Esterhuizen innovation will serve the team's interests — and possibly lead to a situation where the Boks select an eight-zero split on the bench. And yet, if Esterhuizen is named on the bench in that scenario, the opposition won't know whether Erasmus intends to use him as a forward or back until he takes the field. As a result, it will be harder to anticipate South Africa's strategy in that crucial period of the game. Hybrid alternatives Human put things into perspective recently when he said that Esterhuizen was bigger and heavier than some of the forwards in the Bok side. Which begs the question: Is Esterhuizen the only backline player capable of making the switch, and does South Africa's newest tactical ploy hinge on the availability of one player? You can bet your bottom dollar that Erasmus is considering other options, but when you look at what's available at the franchises, there aren't many players who tick all those boxes. De Allende has packed down at flank before, when the forwards have lost a man to the sin bin. While he is 10kg lighter than Esterhuizen — another figure that puts the size of 'Andre the Giant' into perspective — he has the power and the mentality to mix it with the forwards, and fits the requirement of a hybrid player. The Boks could become even less predictable if they hand De Allende the role. Imagine a scenario where De Allende starts a Test at centre and finishes at flank. As was the case in the recent game against the Barbarians, Erasmus could announce a matchday squad that has five recognised forwards on the bench, before going on to use an extra forward option in the Test itself. De Allende (33) is one of the older players in the squad, and Erasmus will have to manage the veteran centre's workload in the lead-up to the 2027 World Cup. Esterhuizen was completely exhausted after putting in a 35-minute shift at the Cape Town Stadium, especially around the scrums and mauls. It's clear that the hybrid role will require a different approach to conditioning and workload management — and Erasmus has confirmed that they will bear this in mind. Guessing game The innovation has got people talking before a two-Test series that the Boks should win comfortably. Erasmus hasn't picked Esterhuizen for the first match at Loftus Versfeld this Saturday, and the six-two bench formation may appear somewhat conservative — until you start to wonder whether Franco Mostert will play lock or flank in the second stanza, and whether De Allende might shift to flank later in the match. Erasmus has made sure that every player in the current squad understands their role and when and where they will play over the two Tests against Italy and the one-off against Georgia. Outside the squad, the media and public will continue to speculate about the lineups, as will the Boks' future opponents. How will the opposition react to the picture that was presented at the Cape Town Stadium last week? Is it a sign of things to come against the All Blacks at Eden Park, France in Paris, and Ireland in Dublin later this year — or merely a well calculated bluff? Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Esterhuizen's cameo and the 'hidden' six-two split is that Scott Robertson, Fabien Galthié and Andy Farrell won't know what to expect — not in the months leading up to those marquee matches, not in the week before, and not until the moment when the Bok subs are deployed. The Tests season has only just begun, but Erasmus is already in their heads. DM
IOL News
17-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Sharks grind out URC win over Scarlets, face Munster in quarters, Stormers get Glasgow
André Esterhuizen Sharks centre André Esterhuizen barges through the Scarlets defence at Kings Park on Saturday night. Photo: BackpagePix Image: BackpagePix Sharks fans watched this match with one hand over an eye as their team arm-wrestled to a 12-3 victory over the Scarlets in Durban on Saturday night, as they steered themselves to third place on the United Rugby Championship log. Leinster beat the Glasgow Warriors 13-5 in the last match of the weekend, which saw the Sharks finish third and avoid the uncomfortable proposition of hosting the Stormers in a quarter-final. The Sharks will now instead host Munster, while the Stormers have to travel to Glasgow to take on the defending champions at Scotstoun Stadium. Before the match kicked off, there was a wonderful gesture from Sharks captain Eben Etzebeth in respect of last week's passing of former Springbok Cornal Hendricks. Today in honour of Cornal Hendricks 🤍 Our Hollywoodbets Sharks players, in an initiative led by our captain Eben Etzebeth, will have the number 14 on their warm-up jerseys. These jerseys will be signed and sold on Monday. All proceeds from the sale of these jerseys will go to… — The Sharks (@SharksRugby) May 17, 2025 Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Etzebeth had arranged for an image of Hendricks in a Springbok jersey to be placed on the team's warm-up jerseys, and each player autographed them for auction. The proceeds are to go to Hendricks' family. As it turned out, Etzebeth was voted Player of the Match, and that was fitting considering his gesture towards Hendricks. The Bok No 4 was colossal for the Sharks as they ground out a victory in which no tries were scored by either side. There was an expectation among many Sharks supporters that victory over the Scarlets was a matter of course, but this was a Welsh team playing a 'final' of sorts. They went into this game in a precarious eighth position and with plenty at stake. Just like the Sharks, they wanted to finish as high on the log position as possible in the scramble towards the United Rugby Championship quarter-finals. It meant an arm-wrestle from the first whistle, and while the Sharks had the better of the admittedly tight opportunities in the first half, they could not score because of clumsy finishing. The Scarlets also had chances to score, but they were cut short by superb cover tackling by the likes of wings Ethan Hooker and Makazole Mapimpi, and centres Jurenzo Julius and André Esterhuizen. It was a minute before halftime that the Sharks scored the first points of the match, a penalty by Siya Masuku, but as the hooter sounded, Sam Costelow out of nowhere struck a drop goal to call it 3-3. It was a brilliant strike by the Wales flyhalf, who overall was one of the better players on the night. Costelow's drop kick made it all the more telling when his opposite number Masuku went off injured 12 minutes into the second half and had to be replaced at No 10 by Aphelele Fassi, with Yaw Penxe coming on at fullback. The Sharks had no specialist flyhalf on the bench, and Fassi's first duty at flyhalf was to strike home a penalty to put the Sharks 6-3 ahead 15 minutes into the second half. It was coolly done by Fassi, and he emulated the job 15 minutes later as the game hit the 60-minute mark. The Sharks had been relentlessly beating down on the Scarlets' defence, and the penalty came their way. It was more of the same for the Sharks as they worked another penalty for Fassi to show he has goal-kicking prowess. Points-Scorers Sharks 12 – Penalties: Siya Masuku (1), Aphelele Fassi (3). Scarlets 3 – Drop Goal: Sam Costelow (1). URC Quarter-Finals (weekend of May 30-31) Dublin: Leinster v Scarlets Pretoria: Bulls v Edinburgh Durban: Sharks v Munster Glasgow: Glasgow Warriors v Stormers
The Citizen
09-05-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
URC result: Sharks secure bonus-point win against Ospreys in Durban
The Sharks have re-signalled their intent to finish as high on the URC table as they can after a dominant performance against the Welsh side, winning 29–10. Sharks lock Jason Jenkins scores his team's first try against Ospreys at Kings Park Stadium. Picture: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images The Sharks' dream of a top-two finish in the United Rugby Championship is alive and well after a commanding bonus-point win over the Ospreys at Kings Park Stadium in Durban on Friday. The 29–10 result means the Sharks still lie fourth on the table. However, they are even on points with the Bulls and lie just one point behind Glasgow Warriors, who, although they have a game in hand, have tough away fixtures against Benetton and URC leaders Leinster left this season. The gap in skill between the Sharks and 11th-ranked Ospreys was evident just about from the get-go. The Sharks, also playing at home, proved better in discipline and won most of the contests at the breakdown. The players who led with the most carries, line breaks, and turnovers all came from the Durban side. The only blemish on the Sharks' performance was an injury to captain Eben Etzebeth, who has already missed much of the season recovering from a concussion. Sharks dominate Ospreys The Ospreys wasted no time putting points on the board, securing a penalty kick within the first minute of the game. It was the first and only time the visitors led on the scoreboard. The Sharks responded nine minutes later with lock Jason Jenkins crashing over for a converted try. The score remained unchanged with the Sharks applying pressure until centre André Esterhuizen broke the line to score in the 34th minute. That left it 14–3 at the break. Ethan Hooker extended the lead after Ospreys spilled an up-and-under in the 52nd minute. However, Ospreys pulled one back right at the start of the final quarter through a try from a maul from substitute Sam Parry. That made it 21–10 to the Sharks. But it was not to be. Sharks substitute Phepsi Buthelezi scored the bonus-point try from a gorgeous cross kick by Aphelele Fassi in the 65th minute to put the result beyond doubt. Scorers Sharks: Tries – Jason Jenkins, André Esterhuizen, Ethan Hooker, Phepsi Buthelezi. Conversions – Siya Masuku 2/3, Aphelele Fassi 1/1. Penalties – Masuku 1/1. Ospreyss: Tries – Sam Parry . Conversions – Dan Edwards 1/1. Penalties – Edwards 1/1.
The Citizen
25-04-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
Sharks expect Ulster to throw down in last home game of season
'Ulster is going to be a big, big game. They will be very amped up. It's going to be hard and physical, and fast. They are a great attacking side.' The Sharks are riding high on confidence ahead of their last game on tour, but they know Ulster have it all to play for in what is almost certainly their final home game of the season. The teams clash in the 16th round of the United Rugby Championship (URC) at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on Saturday (kick-off 8.35pm). Sharks centre André Esterhuizen said the team is in great spirits after their scintillating 18–17 win against Edinburgh in Scotland last weekend. They triumphed against the strong Scottish side, where the Bulls and Lions had failed in the preceding weeks, though victory came for the Sharks only thanks to a last-minute try from wing Makazole Mapimpi on the sideline. The Sharks were statistically the weaker side on the day. Ulster play away at Munster and Edinburgh in their last league games and due to their positioning on the table, have almost no chance of hosting play-off matches should they qualify. They sit 10th on the log, three points away from eighth position but 12 points off the fourth-placed Sharks, who are in a good position to host a home play-off against the team that finishes fifth. Sharks in good spirits Esterhuizen, who earned Man of the Match against Edinburgh for winning the most turnovers and completing a try-saving tackle, said the Sharks have had a good week of training in Belfast. 'The weather is looking quite good. It might be a little wet on Saturday, which will change conditions a bit. But we'll adapt and be ready for anything,' he said. 'Our training week has been good. The boys look focused and ready for the task ahead. The mood in the camp is great, everyone is in good spirits. We've been having a good tour so far.' However, the Sharks have only played one other game on the tour so far, losing 34–21 to Lyon in the Challenge Cup last 16, ending their hopes of defending the title. Ulster have it all to play for in final home game The Durban side will not have it any easier against their Irish opponents. 'Ulster is going to be a big, big game. It is a massive game for them – their last home game. They will be very amped up. It's going to be hard and physical, and fast. They are a great attacking side, so our defence needs to be on point. 'We also need to be sharp in our attack, execute all the opportunities we get to be successful over the weekend to put an end to a successful tour.'
Telegraph
06-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Three reasons why English clubs have flopped in Europe again
A weekend of sobering losses has left the Premiership with one representative in the Investec Champions Cup, causing what feels like an annual bout of soul-searching. There are several factors to reflect upon, some of them familiar. Too many Premiership sides qualify anyway For the Premiership to have eight out of its 10 teams in the Champions Cup, an elite tournament, always seemed absurd. And this season was likely to see something of a pinch. The collapse of three top-tier English sides during the 2022-23 campaign initially brought about a redistribution of talent within the Premiership. After that, though, clubs cut their cloth and recalibrated. Having reached the Champions Cup semi-finals last season, for instance, Harlequins lost André Esterhuizen and Will Collier, two of their most influential individuals, over the ensuing summer. Among the departures from Northampton Saints, who also made the final four last term, were Alex Moon, Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam. Jasper Wiese left Leicester Tigers. Saracens and Sale Sharks bade farewell to highly experienced figures. Bristol Bears sought to trim their squad and cut spending. Harlequins and Leicester qualified for this term's Champions Cup with 50-50 records in the league last season. They each won nine and lost nine of their 18 Premiership fixtures. Exeter Chiefs were marginally better, winning 10 and losing eight, yet have stuttered this campaign. They have kept company with Newcastle Falcons at the bottom of the domestic table while taking on the might of Toulouse and Bordeaux-Bègles, shipping 133 points across those two matches and 52 more on a trip to Ulster. The format of the Champions Cup sends 16 of 24 teams into the knockouts. Such generosity, allied to a seeding system, can cruelly expose those that limp through. Leicester, Saracens, Sale and Harlequins all 'earned' last-16 ties with two wins and two losses in the pool stages. Was their inferiority that much of a mystery, particularly given three of them encountered opponents featuring most of the Scotland, France and Ireland Test line-ups? Perspective is required as well. Saints will expect to oust Castres at home and reach the semis again. When two Premiership teams reached the semi-finals of last season's Champions Cup, it was the first time since 2016 that there had been more than one English representative. In 2021-22 and 2020-21 there were no Premiership semi-finalists at all. This is not a new phenomenon. Timing, priorities and bad luck A lot of Eddie Jones's analogies pertain to cricket. He has used another, though, that likens a team's maturation to a clock. Everyone is working towards a small window at the top of the hour, Jones says, where everything is just right: there is a blend of quality, experience and energy that is in tune with a team's tactical plan. The job of recruiters, selectors and coaches is to ensure that the hands of the clock do not stray too far either side of midnight. There are several aspects to this task, with a salary cap the most obvious one for Premiership clubs competing in an intercontinental competition. The United Rugby Championship does not have a salary cap and the Top 14's upper limit, which must be a certain proportion of that team's overall budget, is €10.8 million (£9.18 million) plus credits. Toulouse, who also boast a prolific academy – as Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall pointed out last week – are thought to shell out around €13 million (£11.05 million). The club are allowed to exceed the cap because they contribute so many players to France's national team. The Premiership salary cap is £6.4 million, with bonuses taking it to £7.8 million before the addition of a 'marquee' player's wages. With a 10-point lead at the top of the Premiership after 13 matches, Bath are the English side closest to 12 o'clock. They have a loaded squad, tied together by a canny spending strategy and robust backing, with a pair of half-backs in Ben Spencer and Finn Russell at the peak of their powers. Bath would be the only Premiership team to rival Leinster and the Top 14 giants for depth. Toulon brought both loosehead prop Dany Priso, who started the 2021 and 2022 Champions Cup for La Rochelle, and Baptiste Serin, the ludicrously skilful scrum-half, off their bench on Saturday. Hours later, Leinster introduced Jordie Barrett and Tadhg Furlong to pile the misery on Harlequins. Like those sides, Johann van Graan can field exceptionally strong match-day 23s because Bath will be spending more than £8.5 million when one factors in various credits and Russell's £750,000 annual salary, which is exempt from the Premiership salary cap. But Bath slipped up in the Champions Cup pool stage this season. They lost to La Rochelle at home and then, betraying that their priorities probably lay on the domestic front, stuck to what seemed to be a preordained selection policy for Benetton. Bath rotated heavily, albeit still withholding Thomas du Toit and Ted Hill to the bench, and went down 22-21. That effectively meant that they needed to oust Leinster in Dublin to go through, and could not. Other Premiership sides are at differing stages. Gloucester are among the form English clubs, yet are competing in the Challenge Cup and turned over Montpellier on the road from 14-0 behind. Northampton are still replenishing their pack as potent backs develop together. Steered by George Ford and spurred by the Curry twins, Sale are reasonably close to 12 o'clock. Following an impressively dogged defeat in Toulouse on Sunday, Alex Sanderson said his side would grow even stronger as prodigiously talented youngsters such as Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Rekeiti Ma'asi-White develop and grow accustomed to the biggest occasions. Leicester are close to 12 as well, but there are other variables behind English sides' problems, and playing without a full deck just seems more damaging for squads that are assembled to compete in a 10-team domestic league. Saracens, in something of a transition period, opted to deploy their cohort of England regulars – Jamie George, Maro Itoje, Ben Earl, Tom Willis and Elliot Daly – in crucial Premiership games after the Six Nations. The first of those matches, a loss to Harlequins, represented an important marketing opportunity for the club. Victory over Leicester saved their league season, yet compromised the Champions Cup because protocols required that quintet to take a rest, giving Saracens an extremely green bench in Toulon. Tigers travelled to Glasgow Warriors without Joe Heyes, Ollie Chessum and George Martin as well as Julián Montoya and Tommy Reffell. Sale were handicapped by injuries to Bevan Rodd and Joe Carpenter. To a degree, such absences are occupational hazards of rugby union and demand that clubs are adaptable. Warriors did not need the excellent quartet of Scott Cummings, Jack Dempsey, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones to dismiss an ill-disciplined Tigers convincingly. Prioritising can work both ways, though. Northampton are free to pile their eggs in the Champions Cup basket now, because their Premiership title defence – in a league free from relegation – is as good as over. All-out attack coming home to roost? It bears repeating that the basketball scorelines of Super Rugby did not appear to hinder New Zealand in the international arena and Dan Biggar used his Mail Online column last week to urge English supporters to celebrate the 'fantastic' Premiership. Biggar, now at Toulon after his stint with Saints, compared the Premiership spectacle favourably to the Top 14. He identified Toulouse and Bordeaux as free-running outliers in France. Try-fests and another compelling play-off race in the Premiership, with second and eighth separated by just nine league points, as well as all seven of those sides having won between eight and six domestic matches out of 13, are hallmarks of an exciting league full of fallible teams. Referees in the Premiership are mindful of maintaining flow and intrepid attack coaches are thriving. It is impossible to know for sure whether all that contributes to flimsier defence, but the signs suggest as much and there have been alarming lapses this year. Toulouse hit Leicester for 80 in January and Saracens shipped 40 unanswered points at Stade Mayol on Saturday as their brilliant start was wiped out in a 72-42 defeat. Harlequins were humiliated 62-0 by Leinster, who also battered Bristol and Bath on the way to an average of 48 points across three victories over Premiership sides. But could it be that the haves are pulling away from the have-nots more generally and fewer teams are left in the middle? Leinster, La Rochelle and Toulouse have contested every final since 2021. Bordeaux seem poised to succeed La Rochelle at the very top table. Alternatively, the big two may separate themselves. Among the best performances from Premiership teams in the Champions Cup this season was Tigers' effort at Stade Chaban-Delmas in a 42-28 loss to Bordeaux. Leicester grafted and scored four tries, yet were undone by some devastating transition attack from Louis Bielle-Biarrey and friends. Do not forget that Bordeaux subsequently plundered 66 points against a Sharks side containing Siya Kolisi and other World Cup champions. Premiership sides have not been alone in their suffering.
