‘DEFINITELY THE BEST’ – ANDRE ESTERHUIZEN RANKS MARCUS SMITH AHEAD OF SPRINGBOKS TEAMMATES
Andre Esterhuizen has delivered a stunning verdict on Marcus Smith – and revealed how close he himself came to quitting English rugby before his Harlequins career even got going.
The Springboks star has become a cult figure in his four years at the Stoop and is a key player for them on Sunday in France where the Londoners face Toulouse for a place in the Investec Champions Cup final.
His time playing alongside Smith has brought Premiership glory to Quins and the outside chance of a league and cup double ahead of his summer return to the Durban-based Sharks.
It has taken him from little-known signing to Rugby Players Association Players’ Player of the Year in 2022 and World Cup winner earlier this season.
“I actually wanted to go back”
Yet today, Esterhuizen lifts the lid on just how close he came to aborting his English mission soon after coming to London as the world was plunged into lockdown in response to coronavirus.
Speaking exclusively to Planet Rugby, he revealed: “After six months here I actually wanted to go back. As soon as we got here we were basically straight into lockdown for almost a year.
“We couldn’t really go out, couldn’t mingle, couldn’t go see places. We were in a new country, trying to get settled in and we just had to sit indoors. Yeah, that was quite tough.”
Esterhuizen pauses as he casts his mind back to those days of chronic uncertainty, global fear and enforced restrictions – alone with then-pregnant wife Mábea and one-year-old son Liam, 6,000 miles from home.
“We moved into a house and had no furniture or anything. We could only order stuff online,” he continued. “Personally, I really struggled, particularly when winter hit.
“I almost said I want to use my release clause, which was in my contract at the end of the first year. I had to fight that feeling, tell myself I hadn’t really given it a chance.
“My wife and I had a long talk about it and eventually we said, ‘Okay, we have come this far, we need to give it a proper shot’. It was a big decision. Luckily we chose to stay because so much good happened off the back of it.”
Winning the Premiership and Marcus Smith
Through what was a challenging time for the entire world, Harlequins came up with the idea of creating a ‘bubble’ in which players, coaches, staff and families could co-exist. It proved to be a masterstroke.
“We won the Premiership a year later,” Esterhuizen said. “Looking back, I think that was one of the key factors behind our success.
“We were always together. If something was going on in our lives it was rugby-linked. Nothing went on outside of that. We really bonded tight as a group.”
Esterhuizen’s midfield partnership with fly-half Smith was an influential factor then and remains so to this day, leading to this endorsement of the England number 10 which will perhaps raise eyebrows in South Africa.
Asked to name the best fly-half he has played with, Esterhuizen replied: “You’re going to think I’m going to say Handre [Pollard] or Manie [Libbok].
“But personally, work-ethic wise, as a student of the game and just an unbelievable player that can make something happen out of nothing, the best fly-half I’ve played with in my life is Marcus.
“A lot of people perhaps don’t see it, but Marcus is level-headed. He’s one of those guys that, although he is one of the best in the world, is always wanting to learn, to be better.
“For me he is definitely the best player, fly-half, I’ve played with – in terms of what has suited me. I’ve got a lot better playing with and next to him.”
Esterhuizen describes the 25-year-old as an “unbelievable” player and “great” team man.
“People will think he tries stuff on his own but the amount of management he has on the field, and what he wants to do for and with the team, is quite remarkable,” he added.
“When something needs to happen and he needs to take something on his own, he’ll definitely make sure something comes of it. He has the ability to do something magical, to create something out of nothing.”
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The Toulouse challenge
Given the 10-12 pairing are up against Romain Ntamack and Pita Ahki at the sold-out 33,150-capacity Le Stadium in Toulouse, not to mention Antoine Dupont and Jack Willis, Quins will need every drop of that ‘magic’.
When the clubs met at the Stoop in the pool stages, the five-time champions outclassed their hosts, scoring seven tries to three for a 47-19 victory.
“Fair play to Toulouse, they were awesome and deserved their win,” Quins captain Alex Dombrandt admitted after that chastening December night.
“When they make line breaks and there are offloads left, right and centre, it’s tough to stop.”
Toulouse lie second in the French Top 14 despite, until recently, being without the services of Dupont and Ntamack.
It is in the Champions Cup they have really made their mark, hammering Racing 92 (31-7) and Exeter Chiefs (64-26) in their two knockout matches.
Unsurprisingly, odds of 7/1 are widely available on Quins.
For all that, Esterhuizen and pals were not given a snowball’s chance in hell away at Bordeaux in the previous round and conjured a 42-41 win, which is still being talked about on both sides of the Channel.
Scrum-half Danny Care acknowledges the “fear factor” that goes with playing a side like Toulouse, knowing what could happen if you get it even fractionally wrong.
‘Andre the Giant’, as he is affectionately known, prefers to see Sunday’s game as a golden opportunity to achieve something special.
“One thing about this club is we always perform when our backs are against the wall and no-one thinks we can,” he said. “If we rock up with the right mindset, right game plan, anything can happen.”
Regardless of what transpires in the closing weeks of his English adventure, one thing is certain.
The Powerhouse from Potchefstroom will always be thankful for his decision to not only come, but stay for as long as he has.
2024-05-03T16:37:29Z dg43tfdfdgfd