A ‘twist’ in Springboks selection? Rassie Erasmus drops Eben Etzebeth hint despite omitting lock from initial 23
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus and lock Eben Etzebeth (inset).
Springboks second-row Eben Etzebeth could still play against the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship after all.
That is the word from head coach Rassie Erasmus, who insisted the lock’s injury is not serious and that they could make a late call on the 32-year-old.
On Monday, it was revealed that Etzebeth was a doubt to face New Zealand due to twisting his knee and, when the team was announced a day later, his name was not in the 23-man squad.
Pieter-Steph du Toit, who has shifted from flanker, and Ruan Nortje were the pairing, while there was no out-and-out lock cover on the bench.
Other lock options
Du Toit’s replacement at blindside, Ben-Jason Dixon, can play in that position if required and Elrigh Louw is another that is able to feature in the second-row, but they are struggling for players in the engine room.
Should Etzebeth be available to Erasmus, it would be a huge boost for the Springboks ahead of the mammoth clash with the All Blacks.
The head coach has therefore not ruled out bringing the Bok centurion into the squad providing he comes through training unscathed.
“On Sunday, we picked the team and Monday morning we announced the team internally with Eben out. Our policy is that if you can’t train on a Monday, you can’t play on Sunday, and then Eben does a whole training session on Monday.
“Obviously, we will have to look at how this afternoon goes and have a chat tonight with all the players. We might make a change because he might have miraculously recovered, and the doc says there is some science behind that.”
“It is not just the will to play and the big occasion and the All Blacks, there are actually some signs there. If that’s the case, we’ll be too happy [to make a change].
“It will be very unlucky for who of Marco [van Staden], Elrigh or Kwagga [Smith] will be left out. I think that will be a call between the three of them, but we’ll think clearly and see how Pieter-Steph moves, and tonight we will make that call.”
Lock curse
Etzebeth’s injury added to their issues in the second-row. Franco Mostert, Lood de Jager and Jean Kleyn were ruled out prior to the Rugby Championship before RG Snyman and Salmaan Moerat joined them on the sidelines.
They have been cursed in that position this year but Erasmus insists that Etzebeth’s knee problem is not too serious, while the Springboks boss also revealed what caused it.
“It’s a meniscus but it was a meniscus in the scrum, from changing feet, from one foot to the other. It’s not where somebody ran into him and he got a whole tear and everything is in pieces,” he said.
“From one side, there was a hell of a lot of kilograms and on the other there was the same, and Eben had to move his feet when those kilograms were coming onto the other side. He twisted his knee a little bit.”
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