Record breaker Eben Etzebeth aims for another major trophy

Eben Etzebeth will try to write another chapter in an already glorious career when he takes the field for the Springboks in their Rugby Championship Title decision against Argentina at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday 28 September.

The towering striker will become South Africa’s most capped rugby test player if he 128. Appearance, overhaul of the lock Victor Matfieldwho retired in 2015.

The 32-year-old will be hoping to end his record-breaking day by lifting the Rugby Championship trophy, which will go to South Africa unless Argentina win by a bonus point and prevent the Springboks from picking up a point.

Etzebeth has already been part of two Rugby World Cup teams – in Japan in 2019 and France in 2023 – and was part of a victorious team against the British and Irish Lions in 2021.

He was part of a team that won a shortened Rugby Championship in 2019, but South Africa have yet to win a full six-match programme since the Southern Hemisphere championship was expanded to four teams with the addition of Argentina in 2012.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said the team wanted to make Saturday’s game “a special day” for Etzebeth.

“If we can win the title and finish the competition with a win, it would be a huge event for the team and for Eben as an individual,” said Erasmus.

Matfield sang the praises of the 6-foot-8, 275-pound giant.

He highlighted Etzebeth’s “athletics and physicality” as well as his leadership qualities.

“I really believe he is (captain) Siya (Kolisi)’s right-hand man,” Matfield said in a discussion with SuperSport TV.

“In meetings, especially when they are under pressure, he is the one who talks – he doesn’t just talk, he leads from the front.”

“The Rock of the Pack”

Former Springboks coach Nick Mallett said Etzebeth combined the best qualities of Matfield and Bakkies Botha, the other strong player in a highly-touted duo that anchored the Springboks’ scrum when South Africa won the World Cup in France in 2007.

“He has Victor’s athleticism, really good ball skills and a feel for the game. He’s quick and he has (Botha’s) physicality in the ball carrying and in the lineout areas.

“Because of his defensive skills, he is a nightmare for all opponents. Since he joined the team, he has been a rock in the storm.”

Etzebeth first came to attention when he played for the University of Cape Town in a televised Varsity Cup final in 2011. That same year he played for the national under-20 team.

Almost a year later, at the age of 20, he made his debut for South Africa against England in June 2012.

Etzebeth grew up in the rough northern suburbs of Cape Town.

His father Harry was a wrestler and his uncle Cliffie was a Springbok wrestler and a well-known hard-hitting forward for Western Province in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Although he is one of the most imposing figures in international rugby today, he played mostly as a three-quarter during his school years before a growth spurt of 20 centimeters at the age of 16 earned him a place in the pack.

Today he is considered, in the truest sense of the word, one of the biggest stars in world rugby.

He played a key role for the Springboks in a season in which he and newcomer Ruan Nortje had a heavy workload due to the absence of several top players, including World Cup winner Lood de Jager, Franco Mostert, Jean Kleyn and RG Snyman.

According to analytics firm Opta, Nortje and Etzebeth have dominated lineouts at this year’s Rugby Championship, topping the competition’s lineout win total with 31 and 24 takes respectively.

Where does Eben Etzebeth rank among the Springbok greats?

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By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse