Nick Mallett says Andre Esterhuizen has transformed into one of the Springboks’ most valuable players.
Esterhuizen capped off an impressive Test season by winning the Man of the Match award after the Boks’ record 73-0 win against Wales in Cardiff.
Speaking on the Talking Boks podcast, the former Bok coach said the powerful midfield-loose forward “hybrid” has gone from being on the fringes of selection to someone the world champions simply can’t do without.
“I thought Estherhuizen was just outstanding. His time in the forwards has just made him better in the contact areas. His go-forward, his presentation of the ball, everything. He was good on defence. He even got a turnover close to our line, which is critical.”
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Mallett said the display in Cardiff showed how far Esterhuizen – and the Bok system around him – has come this year.
“It was a good performance. Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] played well too. So it was just consolidating everything we’ve done this year.
“It was what the best team in the world should do against a B-team type selection from Wales. Although, quite frankly, if they’d had their A team, I think they might have got 50 points anyway, because I don’t think they’ve got the strength in depth that we have.”
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Looking back at the final Test of the year, Mallett argued that the Boks’ complete control, especially up front, meant Wales were outmatched from the opening minutes.
“And the way we played and the manner with which we controlled that game was such that they don’t have a front row that competes with our first or second-string front row.
“I just hoped we were going to go in there and not play it like a Barbarians game, that we would just go and do the job correctly, take them on in their weak areas. We carried on kicking contestables that we dominated. We tackled them back.
“They kept on going backwards from every attack they had, and they were just never in the game. And that’s huge credit to the Springboks.”
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Photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images
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