Eben Etzebeth hails Springboks team-mates for ‘unbelievable performance’ in milestone match
Springboks second-row Eben Etzebeth.
Springboks enforcer Eben Etzebeth thanked his team-mates for an “unbelievable performance” after they secured the Rugby Championship title with a fine 48-7 win over Argentina on Saturday.
With the behemoth second-row becoming South Africa’s most capped Test player, the Boks marked the occasion in Mbombela with a sublime attacking performance which proved too much for Los Pumas, who claimed a shock win over the world champions just a week ago.
Etzebeth, who surpassed the appearance record of another legendary Springboks lock, Victor Matfield, admitted that there would’ve been a different vibe if Argentina had repeated their heroics from the previous clash between the teams.
‘The team really showed up tonight’
“The milestone wouldn’t have been nice if we’d lost this game, so the team really showed up tonight,” he said. “The Rugby Championship was on the line; it was a final tonight, and we all wanted to win that trophy.
“The guys wanted to make it special for me, but it will always be a team sport, and the trophy was the big thing, and we’ll celebrate it very nicely tonight. It was an unbelievable performance from everyone.”
The 32-year-old, who made his Test debut against England in 2012, paid tribute to some of his team-mates, who have been with him for most of his international career.
“There are guys I have been with at three World Cups, won two World Cups, guys like Siya, Jesse, Handre, Frans, Willie, Damian… I’m leaving a few out, but I wouldn’t have reached this milestone without those players.”
The Sharks stalwart said he is still highly motivated to continue playing for the Boks although he would not reveal his ultimate career goals.
“It’s about staying fit and pushing the body as far as it can go,” added Etzebeth.
“I’ve made no secret that the reason I play this game is to play for this team; to perform for my club and to be selected for the national side – that’s the ultimate.
“So, I’ll keep pushing, training hard and performing for my club and hopefully the coaches will keep on selecting me. I never like to share my goals with the public – I like to keep it close to my heart – and I’ll still push on and if the body’s good I’ll continue to go.”
Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus described sharing such a special day with the Boks record holder as a privilege and was delighted with the way his side performed.
“The pressure has been on the players to gel quickly, and I must give credit to the coaching staff and all the backroom team and the guys for keeping on believing despite all the changes,” he said.
“We’ve used 49 players this year and 35 in the Rugby Championship. But when you get to these crunch games it’s the older heads and the calmer heads that sometimes pull it through and they help pull though a guy like Manie [who missed a potential match-winning penalty seven days previously].
‘All of us are privileged to sit with Eben today’
“They understand the bigger picture and then things like this happen where all of us are privileged to sit with Eben today.
“It was gutsy performance and there was enough effort, and I do think there were brilliant plays at stages. So, it was a much better performance, it wasn’t perfect but there was some really good stuff that we can build on.
“We showed good intent; Argentina are a very physical side, a nippy, great attacking side – Jerry [Flannery, defence coach] was very nervous during the week so to keep them to one score was great.
“It was a much better performance than in Argentina, but it was a good performance and something to build on.
“Overall, I’m very happy, happy for Manie, happy for South Africa. But the end-of-year tour is now our target and going through that undefeated.”
