Three Bok Bolters For End of Year Tour

Quintin van Jaarsveld highlights three players who could be bolters when the Springbok squad for the end-of-year tour to Europe is announced on Tuesday.

Rugby Weekend Wrap – Stormers, Bosch, Leinster & Sarries

Tyrone Green – Harlequins

Equally adept at fullback and wing, Green’s what you call a blue-chipper – a can’t-miss prospect. The flair-filled outside back announced himself in grand style in 2019, when his debut Super Rugby and Currie Cup seasons for the Lions was essentially an extended New Year’s-esque fireworks display.

With fearless ingenuity that all but illuminates his frame, the Jeppe High product lit up fields wherever he went, showing the scintillating speed, sublime skill and silky footwork that made him a star for the Junior Springboks. He immediately looked like a future Springbok and his heroics for Harlequins have reinforced the belief of many that he’ll become a full-fledged Bok.

Tyrone Green is serving up all sorts of tapas on the spicy Quins menu.

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— Saffas Abroad Rugby (@SaffasRugby)

As good as he was during his stint with the Johannesburg side, the switch to Quins in 2020 has proved to be a case of moving onwards and upwards. His already rapid evolution and maturity have been ramped up even more and the rough diamond that arrived in London is now a polished gem, one that’s ready to enter the Springbok fold.

In red-hot form, the 23-year-old’s been scoring stunning tries and despite not being the biggest, he shows week-in and week-out that he’s not only a reliable but a busy and dominant defender, while he’s taken his kicking game to the next level since leaving South African shores. He’s a point of difference in a similar vein as Cheslin Kolbe and would bring a special energy and electricity to the world champions.

Andre Esterhuizen – Harlequins

Green’s Quins teammate is the ideal man to call upon to wreak havoc on the heavy European pitches. The monstrous midfielder was a central figure in the club’s Premiership triumph last season and is currently in beast mode. A feared force at 1.94m and 113kg, he’s the perfect type-for-type fill-in for first-choice inside centre Damian de Allende and frothing to reignite his Test career.

“Andre The Giant” as he’s affectionately known, made the last of his eight Springbok appearances in the 24-18 win over Argentina at Loftus Versfeld in 2019. At 27, Esterhuizen has so much more to offer the national side with his immense size, blunt force brutality and valuable experience.

Harlequins head of rugby Tabai Matson recently best described the nightmare that is Esterhuizen, saying the former Sharks star is “probably what you could call an agent of chaos on the pitch for our opposition.” The man himself last week mentioned “Obviously, physicality for me is the big thing. I’d rather run over you than past you.”

Those are fighting words, which the behemoth has backed up every step of the way, but don’t be fooled – he’s not one-dimensional. He has a good offloading game and a booming left boot. Add in his current form, coupled with the fact that there are no other real specialist No.12 candidates to lighten De Allende’s load, and he should surely get a hard-earned Springbok recall.

Carlü Sadie – Lions

The Lions front-rower is the biggest bolter of the bunch in every sense and will no doubt come as a surprise to many. However, reports suggest that Frans Malherbe’s going to miss the tour through injury, which would open up a space in the prop stocks, and I’ve long viewed Sadie as an international-level talent.

The former Junior Springbok is a tormenting titan of a tighthead at scrum time. His powerful scrummaging is akin to a car crash – devastating to watch yet hard to look away. His punishing proficiency in the dark arts – a potent mixture of strength and technique – separates him from the rest of the rising prop prospects.

Carlu Sadie is an absolute mammoth of a man, he had a massive impact at scrum time last week and if the lions want to win he is absolutely vital to that cause as their forwards need to dominate and that surely starts with the burly tighthead prop.

— Track All Sports (@TrackAllSports1)

However, he’s mobile as well. He gets through a ton of work in general play, especially on defence, where he’s also shown the ability to excavate turnovers from the carnage and rapidly-rising pile of bodies at the breakdown. In terms of his carrying ability, he’s not one to set off on barnstorming breaks like the great Beast Mtawarira, but he does get over the gain line more often than not.

The obvious choice to fill the vacancy Malherbe’s expected to leave is experienced World Cup winner Thomas du Toit. At 24, there’s still plenty of time for Sadie to play himself into the national squad, but having already shown he has the makings of a Springbok, now is as good a time as any to introduce him to the structures that make the green and gold machine the best in the business.

Note: Rampaging Stormers No.8 Evan Roos was excluded as he should be a shoo-in instead of being considered a bolter.