Rugby Champs a stepping stone to World Cup, says Esterhuizen

Springbok centre Andre Esterhuizen is set to get a chance to shine once again and make a play for a World Cup berth when the Boks take on the Wallabies in the opening match of the 2023 Rugby Championship at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.

Esterhuizen made eight appearances for the Boks over 2018 and 2019, but missed out on a place in the World Cup squad that year and fell out of favour in the national setup over the subsequent few seasons.

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However after a couple of fantastic seasons with English Premiership side Harlequins, Esterhuizen was back on the Bok radar and was called up to the squad for their 2022 international campaign.

Although he was part of all the squads for the Welsh incoming series, Rugby Championship and end-of-year-tour, Esterhuizen found game time slim, making just two starts and one appearance off the bench over the Boks 13 games that they played.

He started the second Test against Wales, which the Boks narrowly lost 13-12 in Bloemfontein, came off the bench late in the game in their 36-20 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires, and started in their 63-21 hammering of Italy in Genoa.

Limited game time

Despite the limited game time, Esterhuizen now seems set to get a chance to impress again with it rumoured that he will start the Aussie Test alongside Lukhanyo Am, who could captain the team on Saturday.

With the Boks splitting their squads and sending a team to New Zealand early for their match against the All Blacks a week later, regular inside centre Damian de Allende will probably be part of the group heading Down Under.

Esterhuizen was a part of the Bok press conference on Monday afternoon, indicating that he will likely start the match or at worst be playing off the bench, and admitted that the squad was fully prepared and knows where they stand ahead of the coming two weeks.

“We have had open communication throughout between the coaches and the players. It has been a good three weeks (training) together and we are all on the same page. We know what the goal is for the next four weeks. So everyone is happy and knows where they stand,” said Esterhuizen.

“This series (Rugby Championship) is a stepping stone for us to start moving in the right direction. We have to get things right now before the end goal (World Cup).

“So we will be taking it step by step. This is our main goal for now, the Rugby Championship, all our focus is on this and we will build through the year from here. Everyone is very excited to play again.”

Eddie Jones

Esterhuizen also believes that the Wallabies will be fired up for the match and that they will have a few tricks up their sleeve with it being Eddie Jones first game back in charge of their national side.

“I think the Aussies always come to South Africa trying to make a statement. So we can expect a hard and good match, especially with Eddie taking the reins again,” said Esterhuizen.

“I think they will have a few things up their sleeves, and they are going to come with a lot of motivation because he (Jones) knows how to get a team fired up for a game.”