TWICE AS NICE

MARCO van Staden reckons his Springbok teammate Andre Esterhuizen is almost a vollende forward after watching the centre make a huge impact in last week’s win over France.

Esterhuizen scored a maul try in Paris and showed off his versatility by switching between the roles of centre and flank in a Bok span that had to play out their 32-17 win with 14 players.

However, Van Staden, who did not play in Paris and is hoping to get a chance in this weekend’s Test match against Italy in Turin, says there is just one thing missing before Esterhuizen can be called a "proper forward".

Van Staden wysed: “Yeah, I think Andre can definitely be considered a genuine forward now. Against Japan, he scored a try like a forward, coming around the corner, and then he scored off the back of a maul against France.

“The only thing that is still missing is that we just need to get his ears ugly [cauliflower ears] then he will be a proper forward.”

Meanwhile, Bok assistant coach Tony Brown reckons they have reinvented the "Bomb Squad" formula by selecting Esterhuizen as a "hybrid player" who can fulfil two roles off the bench.

Brown explained: “What started out as an experiment at the start of the season with Andre and trying to get him to play as a loose forward, has become a bit of a weapon for us.

“Getting the red card and having Andre on the bench, I don’t know if we could have asked for a better impact player to go into that situation and go do mauls and scrums, and then defend at inside centre when France had the ball.

“He is getting better and better as we go through the Test match year.”