South African critics of Eben Etzebeth thought he should stay home, hang up his rugby boots and settle into a rocking chair.
This was a month ago.
August arrived, greatest rival New Zealand was in country for a much anticipated historic tour and the most capped Springbok ever had played only once all year, back in April. Etzebeth had been sidelined by an eye-gouge suspension, a hip injury and head knock and doubts swirled.
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His second game of the year was against unyielding Argentina in hostile Buenos Aires on Aug. 8. Etzebeth was busy though not sharp but the cobwebs were blown away.
His third game of the year was the first test against the All Blacks at Ellis Park. Etzebeth started badly but warmed up. He was merely ordinary and South Africa was stunned 33-16.
His fourth game of the year was the second test last weekend in Cape Town and he was, to put it plainly, Eben Etzebeth. He harassed the All Blacks lineout, spoiled three of their attacking throw-ins and took five catches. He added 18 tackles, two of them dominant, one stripped carrier, one crumb of a contestable and fingers on an intercept. South Africa won 33-26.
Another great South Africa lock, Victor Matfield, raved about Etzebeth on the Rugby Rivals podcast. “He was under pressure in South Africa — ‘He hasn’t played a lot, he’s not in great form’ — but he stood out,” Matfield said. “At lineout time he was fantastic. His work rate was just unbelievable and that’s the Eben we know. For me, it was important that our most experienced player, in a week like this where there was a lot of pressure, stood up.”
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The third test is on Saturday, back in Johannesburg at giant FNB Stadium.
Etzebeth was chucked into the four-test series incomplete but he doesn’t question coach Rassie Erasmus’ whys and wherefores. When Erasmus took charge in 2018, Etzebeth bought in. He was the captain in 2017 and accepted it going to Siya Kolisi, with whom he has been friends since they were teenagers.
“Being a Springbok became special again,” Etzebeth told The Verdict podcast. “We were willing to go to dark places to get victories and results. In the past it was almost like you were just happy to be a Springbok. Rassie got that belief, hunger and excitement back.”
Silverware came back, too, from winning the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and 2023. Etzebeth started both finals.
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Far from retirement
The advent of the Bomb Squad is extending his career. He’s started 133 of his 144 tests but not finishing as many as he used to. He says he doesn’t mind because not getting picked hurts more.
He wants to play for as long as he can and hasn’t picked a year to finish. He’s 35 next month. He’ll turn 36 the day before a possible 2027 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal between South Africa and New Zealand in Sydney.
“Every year the younger guys are just bigger, better and faster,” he said. “They push me to improve and that’s the way it should be.”
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Etzebeth was the youngest Springbok to play 50 tests (24 in 2016) and 100 tests (30 in 2022). That 100th test was lined up for Cape Town so his father Harry, stricken with cancer, could attend. His then-fiancée Anlia sang the national anthem. He was man of the match.
Harry died the following year while Etzebeth was in New Zealand. He stayed there to captain the Boks because Harry would have wished it.
Etzebeth was born into a family of professional wrestlers, which gave them a rough and tumble reputation. Etzebeth felt he didn’t fit in until at 15 he endured a growth spurt of 20 centimeters and 20 kilograms. He was moved from the wing to lock. Now he’s 2.03 meters (6-foot-8) and 120 kilos and a menace to box-kicking scrumhalves.
Another enforcer wearing No. 4
Etzebeth was 20 when he debuted for the Springboks in 2012, the season after the second row was vacated by Matfield and Bakkies Botha.
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Both stalwarts would return to the Boks but work around Etzebeth, who enriched the post-apartheid line of fearsome team enforcers who happened to wear the No. 4 jersey: Adri Geldenhuys, Kobus Wiese, Mark Andrews and Botha.
Matfield always appreciated having the pugnacious Botha as a partner — a world record 63 tests together in the second row — and he was on hand when his all-time record of 127 Springbok test appearances was passed by Etzebeth in 2024.
Matfield marvelled at Etzebeth’s gifts: The work rate and take-no-prisoners attitude.
“You always want that one guy that, when you run onto the field, the other pack know there’s no chance you’re taking on this one guy,” Matfield said. “That’s what Eben’s been giving this pack for the last (now 14) years.”
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