With the Boks heading to Gqeberha to face the Barbarians, centre André Esterhuizen opened up about Rassie Erasmus’s genius knack for creating ultimate utility players. The latest experiment? High-flying Lions full-back Quan Horn making a surprise shift to the No 10 jersey this Saturday. Photo: Backpagepix
The Ancient Greeks had a healthy fear of the Chimera — the monstrous beast of Asia Minor depicted as a lion with a goat's head, a snake as a tail, and dragon wings. The offspring of the equally terrifying Typhon and Echidna, the Chimera was described in antiquity as the “bane to many a man” in Greek mythology.
In recent years, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has often been described as a mad scientist — a play on the honorary doctorate he holds — but also most certainly for his innovation and evolution of the game of rugby. It is perhaps more apt to charge that Erasmus and Co are building their own mythology, one that will be recalled in years to come as a significant paradigm shift in how to approach players and their positions.
For you see, Erasmus has also been breeding Chimeras.
Springbok centre André Esterhuizen is arguably the prime case, but others, such as Cheslin Kolbe, Grant Williams, Kwagga Smith and Marco van Staden — to name the most prominent of a much longer list — have all been experiments in his hybrid theory. Lions flank Ruan Venter would have also been a part of his vision had he not been injured, moving to No 4 lock for the upcoming international Test season.
