Decade Of Destruction: Etzebeth’s Rise To Springbok Royalty 

After a decade of destruction, it’s apropos that all-conquering Eben Etzebeth won’t just join Springbok royalty but kick down the door of the most elite club in South African rugby like no one before him this weekend, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld. 

When the Herculean lock runs out in the series-deciding third Test against Wales at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, he’ll become only the seventh Springbok centurion of all time, joining Percy Montgomery, Victor Matfield, John Smit, Bryan Habana, Jean de Villiers and Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira.

In doing so, he’ll carve out his own special place in history as the youngest ever South African superstar to reach the 100-Test milestone at just 30 years of age. Montgomery hit the magical three-figure mark at 34, Matfield, Mtawarira and De Villiers were 33, Smit was 32 and Habana was 31. The pride of a well-known Cape Town rugby family, it’s fitting that Etzebeth’s career comes full circle in the Mother City. 

Standing 2.03m tall, weighing 123kg and seemingly chiselled out of granite, the prodigious powerhouse is one of the most feared and physical players the sport has ever seen. Destructive, domineering and durable, he’s outmuscled and outlasted two generations of giants and stands at the summit as far as hard men go…like an imposing and indomitable final boss video game character. 

Yet, to call him an enforcer is to shortchange the complete colossus Etzebeth has become since making his Springbok debut in the 22-17 win over England in the 2012 season-opening Test in Durban. The hot-headedness of a 20-year-old who wanted nothing more than to do the role justice quickly evaporated; faster, one must say, than many of his predecessors.  

A decade on, he’s well and truly the scariest of monsters – a harbinger of pain who feasts on his prey with controlled aggression. Still the leader of the pack when it comes to spearheading the physical charge, his mastery of challenging rage allows him to maximize his physical gifts and assert his dominance in disciplined 80-minute purges week in and week out.  

Etzebeth’s rugby IQ continues to soar and his skills are ever-evolving. It’s one of the hallmarks of the true greats, the pursuit of perfection that drives them to somehow improve season upon season. The standout of the current three-Test series, he showed last weekend that his code-cracking prowess is at an all-time high as he wrecked Wales’ lineout and was a menace in the mauls, outworking the visitors to seize turnovers.

With every minute detail of the professional game being analyzed and players’ steps retraced from a high-performance perspective, uniqueness is being erased more and more. It’s only once every few years that forward-thinking coaches bring something new and true to them to the table and Etzebeth is one of a kind in the added role he plays in the Springboks’ much-maligned kick-chase game plan.   

The mobile and supercharged second-rower’s work rate and veteran smarts enable him to reach the target area – mainly from midfield bombs – in a timely fashion, where he uses his towering frame to rebound like LeBron James. This is a proudly South African tactic with Etzebeth as the ace up the world champions’ green and gold sleeves.   

When it comes to the basics, the venomous velocity with which he hits up the ball and clatters into rucks is remarkable to the point that the uneducated would rather pin him as a hungry upstart than a warhorse 10 years into his Test career. Ditto his defensive output, which sees him consistently deliver double-digit tackles per game.

On top of that, he’s risen to become a respected leader and key general in the core group of Springboks who’re at the heart of the side’s success, which is famously headlined by the Rugby Championship and World Cup triumphs in 2019 and the series win over the British & Irish Lions last year. 

As the acclaimed docuseries about the 2021 tour, Two Sides, revealed, it was Etzebeth’s fire-breathing salvo that galvanised the hosts after they’d lost the opening Test against the Northern Hemisphere all-stars. That the former Stormer started in the No.4 jersey in 94 of his 99 Tests and has captained the Springboks on 12 occasions highlights how integral he’s been to the pride of Mzanzi over the last decade.  

True to the extraordinary talent he is, Etzebeth’s seemingly only now entering his prime. His 2021 season was a tour de force that put him at the top of most experts’ and fans’ lists as not only South Africa’s gold standard but the best player in the world.

At 30 and having just returned to South Africa from Toulon to start a five-year spell at the Sharks, there’s still plenty more to come from the beast incarnate, who barring serious injury, will eclipse fellow second-row great Matfield’s record of 127 and stand tall as the most-capped Springbok in history.

For now, bask in the glory of the muscle, motor and embodiment of the Springbok warrior spirit when the Cape Town-born conqueror raises his bat where it all began on Saturday.