Andre Esterhuizen has lit the touchpaper ahead of this weekend’s clash in Edinburgh after firing a shot at Scotland’s South African-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 players.

The Springboks head to Murrayfield on Sunday to face Gregor Townsend’s men where they will come up against some of their countrymen.

For the match against Fiji, Duhan van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman and Dylan Richardson all featured for the Scots despite being South African 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 and raised.

Eligibility laws

Richardson is a slightly different case due to the fact that he qualifies via his Scottish-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 father, but Van der Merwe and Schoeman were both picked after becoming eligible through World Rugby’s residency laws.

Kyle Steyn and WP Nel are two other players who have recently donned the jersey after making Scotland their home.

For Esterhuizen, that was never an option, even though he could have earned more caps playing somewhere else.

The 30-year-old looks set to line up for the Boks this weekend, but he has had the misfortune of having the outstanding Damian de Allende ahead of him in the pecking order for the entirety of his Test career.

“I’d much rather have my 18 caps for the Springboks than 70 caps for a different country that I’m not actually 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 in,” Esterhuizen told reporters.

“Obviously, a lot of people have different views about that but, for me, I’m South African. I love this country and this team. I’m very content with where I’m at.

“I’m always striving to be better, to play more, to get into the squad more. Damian is there, Lukhanyo [Am] is there – there’s so many players that can play 12, that can play not just stand-in at 12 but can play a great game at 12. So it’s also very healthy for the squad. The competition between each other will drive each other to get better.

“So yeah, I would have loved to have played more. But I’ve worked hard – worked a lot harder on my discipline and stuff through the years, getting better at that.”

‘Personal opinion’

Esterhuizen did admit that a different path could have resulted in a more difficult choice, but that he has been “very happy” with his Test career so far.

“It’s obviously a personal opinion. I can’t speak for them as they obviously made the decision on their own. I think some players just decide young to leave the country and when the opportunity comes they’re probably not going to say no,” he added.

“It’s also easy for me to say it in hindsight. If I left earlier and that opportunity came I don’t know what I would have done, but at the moment where I am now I’m very happy with my 18 or 19 or 20 caps.

“For them it’s a career decision. You also need to make money out of rugby. So, there’s two different sides to it.”