Springbok Andre Esterhuizen gets revenge on Owen Farrell for infamous tackle
Of all the tackles that Owen Farrell has ever made, maybe the most famous was his high shot on Andre Esterhuizen in 2018 in the white of England.
Up against South Africa, the now England captain produced a very dubious tackle on the Springboks centre in the final play of the game when the visitors were trailing 12-11. The tackle led to a turnover and England won the match. The tackle has long since been regarded as the perfect illegal tackle, and went a long way in creating Farrell’s reputation of being a suspect tackler.
Well it was round two on Saturday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Saracens hosted Harlequins. This is not the first time that the two players have butted heads since 2018, but there was a moment in the first half where the 113kg carried straight into the fly-half and, as expected, Farrell went high. The Englishman produced almost an identical tackle to the one at Twickenham, but this ended very differently.
Esterhuizen threw Farrell backwards in his surging run, leaving the Saracen’s arms flailing in the air. The No10 did have another bite of the cherry though, helping bring Esterhuizen down. Farrell had nowhere near as much momentum going into the tackle on this occasion, and it allowed the South African to get some revenge, although Farrell’s side did come out on top 36-24.
Take a look:
These two have 'history'.#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/FGXUvP9xYg
— JustIs Sport (@JustIs_Sport) March 25, 2023
🔥 @Saracens in full flow as Andy Christie helps round out a top first half#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/CHnkiZHFCK
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) March 25, 2023
Saracens XV: 15. Alex Goode, 14. Max Malins, 13. Alex Lozowski, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Sean Maitland, 10. Owen Farrell (c), 9. Ivan van Zyl; 1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Jamie George, 3. Marco Riccioni, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Hugh Tizard, 6. Andy Christie, 7. Ben Earl, 8. Billy Vunipola
Replacements: 16. Theo Dan, 17. Eroni Mawi, 18. Alec Clarey, 19. Nick Isiekwe, 20. Jackson Wray, 21. Aled Davies, 22. Duncan Taylor, 23. Alex Lewington
Harlequins XV: 15. Nick David, 14. Joe Marchant, 13. Luke Northmore, 12. Andre Esterhuizen, 11. Cadan Murley, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Danny Care; 1. Joe Marler, 2. Jack Walker, 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Irne Herbst, 5. Stephan Lewies (c), 6. Jack Kenningham, 7. James Chisholm, 8. Alex Dombrandt
Replacements: 16. Sam Riley, 17. Fin Baxter, 18. Will Collier, 19. Dino Lamb, 20. Will Evans, 21. Scott Steele, 22. Tommy Allan, 23. Oscar Beard
