Eben Etzebeth reveals ‘probably the worst day of my life’ and the ‘Prison Break’ description he has for Rassie Erasmus
Eben Etzebeth on Springboks duty last November and, inset, team boss Rassie Erasmus
Eben Etzebeth has revealed the biggest disappointment of his record-breaking Springboks career. The 141-cap second row has been playing Test rugby since 2012, and he is now hoping to be part of the squad that will attempt to win a third successive Rugby World Cup title next year.
He has reflected on South Africa’s back-to-back triumphs, nominating 2019 as the bigger success of the two as there was no expectation from fans when the team headed to Japan.
However, away from all this success, there have also been difficult moments and the 34-year-old has nominated the aftermath of losing the 2015 semi-final to New Zealand as his worst day ever.
Seated on a stage set up on the back pitch at the Sharks’ Kings Park in Durban for the latest episode of Boks Unpacked, Etzebeth reflected on his stellar career in the company of former Springboks Jean de Villiers, Schalk Burger and Hanyani Shimange.
“I went to go and sit in one of the cubicles…”
Asked to single out his greatest disappointment, Etzebeth chose a devastating loss from 11 years ago in England. “I remember after that New Zealand game losing 20-18 in the semi-final, I went to go and sit in one of the cubicles and it was probably the worst day of my life,” he admitted.
“There’s some other things in my life that also happened besides rugby, but that was my worst day. You work four years and it’s gone like that.
“I remember we flew back, and I spoke to Jean (who was the squad’s captain at the time) and I just told him I never want to feel this ever again and I will make sure I’ll work harder, and the guys around me will also work harder.
“That is what I took out, just the disappointment of coming so close and two points and you’re out. You can never get it back; you have to wait four years again.”
Following that World Cup exit in 2015, Heyneke Meyer was succeeded as the coach by Allister Coetzee, who went on to have a few difficult years in charge before the baton was passed onto Erasmus in 2018. The rest, as they say, is history.
Two World Cup triumphs later, and with plans afoot to try and complete an unprecedented hat-trick of title wins, Etzebeth explained the transformation that took place after Erasmus took charge of the Springboks.
“The core of the group did stay, and I just think Rassie came in and got everyone aligned and believing in the plan. It wasn’t my plan is better or this or that; the players just bought in.
“And with the players, he always says you can be the best player, but it doesn’t mean you are the right guy for the team. He doesn’t always select the best players because he feels he might not be the right thing for the team at the moment.
“So he got that right and the guys bought in and the Springboks became special again. We were willing to go into dark places to get victories and to get results where in the past it was almost like you were just happy to be a Bok, ‘I’m a Bok and I’m wearing my Springbok jersey and I am quite cool now’. But he got that belief and that hunger and excitement back.
“If you don’t buy in, it doesn’t matter who you are; you are not going to get a fine of a couple of thousand rand or stuff like that, you are not going to get selected and it hurts. Playing for the Boks for most South Africans, that is the best you can do; you can’t go further than that, so he just won’t select you.
“That is one attribute, and then the team he has got around him, the work ethic they have and how they look at opposition.
“I don’t know if you watch Prison Break, there is a guy called Michael Scofield, and he was always one step ahead of the police man Alex Mahone. He [Mahone] always thought he was going to catch him and then he [Scofield] was already one step ahead and I feel that’s the way Rassie is the way he does things.”
Asked to pick which World Cup success was his most memorable, Etzebeth put the triumph in Japan ahead of the success four years later in France.
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“2019 was probably bigger; it was the first time and that’s your ultimate goal as a rugby player, to win a World Cup. 2023, it was almost as if people in South Africa expected it a bit more. In 2019 they weren’t expecting to win and in terms of 2023 it was just go and do it again.
“What was nice for me, I didn’t know my wife in 2019, but I shared 2023 with her; she was there and she was pregnant with our first daughter. Obviously, in 2023 my dad wasn’t there anymore but he got to see 2019.
“So each one has got its own things, but both were so special. It’s the top of the mountain when you play rugby to win a World Cup.”
