Former Springboks midfielder Grant Esterhuizen has taken to social media in an effort to track down two men who allegedly assaulted him on Saturday night in Mbombela after South Africa had defeated the All Blacks earlier that day.
The now 46-year-old, who played club rugby for the Bulls, the Cats and the Stormers, was capped seven times at Test level in 2000.
He attended last weekend’s round one Rugby Championship match but his celebrations were ruined when he was attacked outside a nightclub. Esterhuizen has now posted three pictures of his bruising injuries on Facebook and has written the following message: “Looking for two not-so-gentle men who took the time on Saturday night to hit me from the side and the back.
“These individuals belong to a motorcycle club in Nelspruit. Short guy with thin facial hair, short dark hair. Tall thin fella with dark bushy hair moustache and goatee. The taller guy was wearing a blue and black check shirt. Both were wearing motorcycle club cuts. Please help me find these criminals and prevent this from happening to anyone else in the future.”
The Esterhuizen post on Tuesday to the social media site gained a lot of traction and the ex-Springboks back added further detail about what happened to him when interviewed on Wednesday on Jacaranda FM.
“We were standing outside (the club) and this one guy comes to me and says he feels like he wants to hit me,” he explained in an interview that rugby365.com have reported on. “I turned my back towards him and carried on with my conversation and the next thing I got hit really hard from the side. That is pretty much the last of what I can remember.”
Esterhuizen, who is trying to source security footage of the incident, was apparently hit with a helmet and knocked out, calling it a random act of violence. “I’m pretty straightforward. When I have a couple of drinks, I always say I’m a lover and not a fighter.”