Springboks: Rassie Erasmus singles out how Jordan Hendrikse ‘brings something different’ ahead of start alongside brother against Wales
Split with Jordan Hendrikse and Rassie Erasmus.
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has highlighted how Jordan Hendrikse offers something different to the other fly-halves with the young star set to start alongside his brother, Jaden, in the half-backs against Wales.
Jordan has one cap to his name, against Wales earlier this year in the Qatar Cup, where he performed reasonably well but was ultimately outshone by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu on the day.
The 23-year-old was left out of the squad after that but did not sit around and wait as he found some good form with the Sharks, including kicking a massive penalty in extra time to win the Currie Cup for the Durban outfit.
Family affair
The fly-half joins the more experienced of the two, Jaden, in the half-backs and, while Erasmus says there is a warm feeling around the family aspect, he felt it was the right time to give it a go.
“Hopefully, it will go well for them,” he said. “They deserve this chance. We’ve been chopping and changing and testing different combinations.
“We could have played Cobus [Reinach], and we have guys like Herschel Jantjies and Morne van den Berg back home, but fortunately, it worked out for the two brothers.
“We’re glad for them. The family thing is a warm and fuzzy feeling, but the performance is very important.”
Erasmus has a plethora of options at fly-half, from the veteran game driver Handre Pollard to the mercurial playmaking of Manie Libbok and the hybrid of the two in Feinberg-Mngomezulu, but Hendrikse brings elevated physicality and easily the biggest boot of all those options.
“He is certainly a guy that brings something different to the party. He’s got a big boot, and he’s a more physical fly-half,” said Erasmus.
“There is Siya Masuku who hasn’t even got a look into the team, Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] is back home, Damian [Willemse] is back home.
“It’s nice. He’s come through our ranks, and sometimes I just believe when two brothers are playing together, it’s the right time to give them a chance if they deserve it.”
Different approach
The veteran coach is keen to see how the young star gets on and also underlined how the team will be run differently under Hendrikse.
“Overall, he’s physical and big. He maybe doesn’t have the fine skills that a guy like Manie has, but he can certainly kick the ball a mile and he stands his ground in his channel,” said Erasmus.
“I think very few guys are up there with Manie when it comes to handling skills, but let’s see, maybe he surprises us with that on Saturday.”
