Andre Esterhuizen is set to feature in midfield for the Springboks against Scotland this weekend. Picture: Warren Little/Getty Images
Sharks and Springbok centre Andre Esterhuizen is thrilled about the chance to take on the highly-rated and impressive Scottish midfield duo of new captain Sione Tuipulotu and former Stormers star Huw Jones when the teams meet in a Test at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Sunday.
Esterhuizen looks like he may get a rare chance to start for the Boks, after he was included in Wednesday’s media duties, which likely means regular No 12, Damian de Allende, will be keeping his powder dry for the game against England at Twickenham next weekend.
Esterhuizen last played for the Boks against Portugal in July, where he picked up an early red card that effectively ruled him out of the Rugby Championship, and he will be fired up for a run at the Scots should he be named in the match 23 on Friday.
“They are a great centre pairing. We have watched many games of them tearing through defences on the international stage and for Glasgow (Warriors),” said Esterhuizen of Tuipulotu and Jones, who started in last weekend’s 57-17 win against Fiji.
“I obviously played with Huw for a couple of years when I was at Harlequins so I know him quite well, and Tuipulotu is a great player, in terms of his distribution, he is a hard runner and a good ball carrier, so it’s going to be a big battle in the midfield and I am really keen for that and looking forward to it.”
Esterhuizen was also asked on Wednesday whether he was confident of getting a third straight win over many of the players in the Scotland team, due to the bulk of them coming from Glasgow Warriors, who won the URC title last season.
The Bok centre was on the winning side with his previous team, Harlequins, over Glasgow in the Champions Cup earlier this year, and again with the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship just a few weeks ago, but admitted that wouldn’t have any bearing on the match.
“Glasgow and Scotland are two different teams. Glasgow are a class outfit and although their players make up the bulk of the Scottish team, when they put on that (national team) jersey they are different players,” explained Esterhuizen.
“They play a different style of rugby and it is a different mentality when you play international rugby. So we are expecting a good fight from them this weekend. It will be great to win the match, but it’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be a hard battle.”
Esterhuizen, who’s set to man the midfield alongside Jesse Kriel added: “The match against them in the World Cup last year was not a walk in the park, as we saw at halftime (when the Boks led 6-3 before winning 18-3). It will be an intense battle.”
Bok boss Rassie Erasmus will name his matchday-23 on Friday.
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