Andre Esterhuizen says he is looking forward to running at former Harlequins teammate Marcus Smith when the Springboks tackle England at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Springbok midfield enforcer spent four seasons playing alongside Smith in England, with the duo combining to help Harlequins win the Premiership in 2021.
Saturday night’s match will see Esterhuizen, who came back to the Sharks in September, return to Twickenham and come up against England’s backline magician for the first time in his career.
“It’s a great space, I obviously love to play there,” Esterhuizen told the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast. “It will be great to be running at Marcus, not run off him.
“It’s going to be a great match, England have played well in the last few games, it’s unfortunate that it hasn’t been the results that they want. I think it’s going to be a big one.”
Esterhuizen started the Springboks’ November tour-opening victory over Scotland at Murrayfield, as Rassie Erasmus fielded a heavily-changed side for the match.
Despite benching captain Siya Kolisi and flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit, the Springboks shrugged off an error-strewn performance to claim a 32-15 victory.
“One of the good things is that everyone is getting game time now,” Esterhuizen, who played instead of regular inside centre Damian de Allende, said. “It it also about looking forward, you’ve got to be able to spare all the guys for the next World Cup and build experience into it.
“The aim is to have the two best teams in the world, all in one squad. We want to make it second nature for people slotting in, so if someone steps in, they can just slot in and play the same if not better than the other player.”
Photo: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images
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