{"id":784384,"date":"2026-09-27T15:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T15:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/784384\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T15:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T15:38:08","slug":"springboks-preparations-for-wallabies-test-disrupted-as-andre-esterhuizen-faces-backlash-over-old-racial-slur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/784384\/","title":{"rendered":"Springboks preparations for Wallabies Test disrupted as Andre Esterhuizen faces backlash over old racial slur"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Springboks<\/a>\u2019 preparations for Sunday\u2019s Test against the Wallabies were disrupted when new captain Andre Esterhuizen became embroiled in a controversy over an old racial slur.<\/p>\n

The world champions and the Wallabies are set to face off at the Optus Stadium in Perth but ahead of that clash there was a backlash on social media in South Africa over a racial slur which Esterhuizen made 14 years ago.<\/p>\n

Journalists told to restrict questions to on-filed matters<\/p>\n

Ahead of an online press conference on Saturday, journalists were told to restrict questions to Esterhuizen and assistant coach Mzwandile Stick to on-field matters.<\/p>\n

However, a journalist still asked a question regarding the racial incident involving Esterhuizen,<\/a> but a Springbok official quickly stepped in to shut it down, saying the matter would not be addressed in the press conference.<\/p>\n

Esterhuizen, who is a hybrid player, was named at inside centre and appointed as the Springboks\u2019 68th Test captain for the one-off clash with the Wallabies by head coach Rassie Erasmus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, there has been plenty of criticism over his appointment to the leadership position and his involvement with the Boks due to that incident, which happened when the Boks\u2019 hybrid player was 18 years old.<\/p>\n

South African television and radio presenter Anele Mdoda led criticism on social media by saying Esterhuizen should be \u201cbanned from playing rugby, period\u201d after Erasmus opted for him in the captaincy role ahead of previous Bok captains Eben Etzebeth and Handre Pollard.<\/p>\n

In 2012, while attending Klerksdorp High, Esterhuizen was found guilty of using a racial slur during a school\u2019s encounter against a Potchefstroom Gym coach.<\/p>\n

The transgression had serious consequences for Esterhuizen as he subsequently received a one-year suspension and was dropped from the prestigious Leopards Craven Week squad.<\/p>\n

Why Rassie Erasmus snubbed Eben Etzebeth and Handre Pollard for Springboks captaincy: \u2018We are trying to build our leadership group\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

When announcing Esterhuizen as captain, Erasmus explained that he wants the Sharks star to experience what it is like to lead his country as the Boks build leadership depth in the run-up to the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a question of who we were going to make captain; it was a question of whether we build our senior players so that everyone has a voice,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u2018We are trying to build our leadership group that way\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cA guy like Eben Etzebeth, whether he is captain or not, always brings the same attitude: a wise, calm head on his shoulders. Handre will always know what he\u2019s doing when he\u2019s playing; Jesse [Kriel] isn\u2019t playing, but he\u2019s been our captain, and Siya [Kolisi] obviously too. We are trying to build our leadership group that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Esterhuizen said it\u2019s an honour for him to be trusted with the Boks captaincy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just going out with the captaincy role, but it\u2019s still all about the team. We\u2019ve got so many leaders that help each other. And ultimately, it\u2019s what we all do together on the field,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play together, whether I\u2019m talking, Eben\u2019s talking, Siya\u2019s talking\u2026 Yeah, so I\u2019m taking it on as an honour, and I\u2019m very happy about it, but ultimately, we\u2019re all together as a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at Siya, he\u2019s been a tremendous leader for the Springboks. And I\u2019ve obviously played with him at the Sharks. Just to always see him composed and calm, doesn\u2019t matter what the situation is, and obviously relying on the guys around him as well. He knows when to step back and when to step up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s something I\u2019ve taken from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: England great: Frighteningly good Andre Esterhuizen \u2018might be the best player I\u2019ve ever played with\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Springboks\u2019 preparations for Sunday\u2019s Test against the Wallabies were disrupted when new captain Andre Esterhuizen became embroiled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[125408,428,348,3482,50,5903,4247,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-784384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-andre-esterhuizen","tag-australia","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-south-africa","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}