Rassie: Why we named Andre Esterhuizen as Springbok captain

Rassie Erasmus named a new-look Springbok team to face the Wallabies in a one-off Test this Sunday, and one of the standout features is the decision to hand Andre Esterhuizen the captaincy role.

Erasmus said he was pleased to see Esterhuizen have an opportunity to lead the Springboks for the first time.

“He captained the Sharks, and he has brought so much to our squad off and on the field, both at centre and in the loose trio, and he thoroughly deserves this opportunity.

“It will also help build our leadership core even more within the team with several players having captained the side over the last few seasons, and we trust that he is the right man to take over the captaincy in this match.”

Andre Esterhuizen to lead overhauled Springbok team

In total, Erasmus made 13 changes to his starting team, and he said all the selected players deserved this opportunity.

“Each player in this squad has been working hard at training over the last few months and have had a chance to play in either the first leg of the Nations Championship or RGR, or both, while guys like Handre (Pollard) and Canan (Moodie) have recovered from injury, and they are all quality players, so we are pleased to give them a run and we are excited to see this team in action,” said Erasmus.

Of the decision to release Pieter-Steph du Toit and Damian de Allende from camp, Erasmus said: “They had a heavy workload in the last few months, and they deserve a break, but at the same time we decided from the outset that if everything went according to plan, we would rest them for this match, so it made sense to send them home to spend time with their families.”

The match kicks off at 11:45 (SA Time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

HOW THE TEAM WILL LINE UP

SPRINGBOKS – 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Andre Esterhuizen (c), 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marco van Staden, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Bench: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Quan Horn.