Kwagga Smith said André Esterhuizen has been training with the loose forwards and would not need to change his style much should he play at six.
With Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus hinting that André Esterhuizen might again be used at flank this week, loose forward Kwagga Smith was asked how he thought the traditional centre would fare.
Smith said that apart from a few technical adjustments around scrums and lineouts, Esterhuizen was training well with the loose forwards and wouldn’t need to change his game much otherwise.
The Springboks take on Argentina in their penultimate Rugby Championship Test match at Kings Park, Durban, on Saturday (kick-off 5.10pm).
Esterhuizen packed down at flank in the opening game against the Barbarians in June. Erasmus explained afterwards that he thought of Esterhuizen as a “hybrid player“, playing flank in attack and dropping to centre in defence if needed.
He’s played four Tests since the Barbarians friendly, all at inside centre.
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If things go according to plan…
The 31-year-old, standing 193cm tall and weighing 116kg, is in fact taller and heavier than most loose forwards in the squad. He even played tighthead prop in his Sevens days.
But he has been used at inside centre for just about all of his XVs career, his ability to break tackles, find gaps and defend is best utilised at 12.
Erasmus said this week: “If things go great we’ll maybe give Manie Libbok a run and move Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to 15. And maybe move Gaza [Damian Willemse] back to 12 and André [Esterhuizen] to loose forward.
“Whatever happens in the game, let’s hope it works out so we can experiment a little bit. While giving Argentina respect at the same time.”
Estherhuizen has technical work, otherwise good
Smith, who has played in all three loose forward positions and can even drop to wing if needed, said Esterhuizen would be comfortable at six.
“I’ve known André a long time,” Smith said. “We played Sevens together. He was tighthead and I was hooker.
“He’s got the physicality, he’s got the size. He’s massive. The only place he can maybe get better is the technical stuff in the set-pieces. That’s about it.
“As loose forwards, we play with width in our attacking structure and we defend on the outside channels. So that’s not a big difference for him from going centre to loose forward.”
He said while Esterhuizen could improve his work at lineouts and scrums, he’s “used every opportunity in unit sessions at training to do lifts, do ripping when he’s at six.
“If he needs to play there he will be very comfortable. It will be exciting to see him there.”
