Eben Etzebeth slams Springboks teammates’ actions in record All Blacks loss that ‘silenced’ fans
Eben Etzebeth and an inset of ex-Springboks captain Adriaan Strauss during the defeat to the All Blacks in 2016.
Eben Etzebeth has hit out at the actions of several of his Springboks teammates in the build-up to and after the record defeat to the All Blacks in 2016.
Following the Rugby World Cup in England, the Boks endured a challenging start to life under new head coach Allister Coetzee, falling to a first-ever loss on home soil to Ireland in June.
While they bounced back to win the series 2-1, the Rugby Championship proved to be a far bigger challenge as Coetzee’s charges beat Argentina but fell to a defeat at the hands of Los Pumas the following week before losses to the Wallabies and All Blacks in Australia and New Zealand, respectively. The 13-41 loss to the All Blacks in Christchurch was the third-heaviest defeat to their rivals at the time, but worse awaited the Boks as they returned home.
Record defeat to the All Blacks
While they did get back to winning ways, beating the Wallabies 18-10 at Loftus Versfeld, that result just papered over the issues in the squad, according to Etzebeth, who reflected on that period in Springboks rugby history in his autobiography Unlocked.
“The discipline in the group wasn’t very good and some guys on the fringes of the starting line-up decided that it was a good idea to go out and party just a few days before our match against the All Blacks in Durban,” Etzebeth wrote.
“South African journalists found out, and it created a bad feeling in the group. There was a feeling that we lacked an effective leadership group of experienced players who were not scared to tell the younger guys that this is not how real Springboks behave.”
The Springboks would fall to a 15-57 defeat to the All Blacks, their heaviest-ever loss to New Zealand at the time, a record that would be broken a year later.
Despite the margin of defeat, the fans did not jeer the Boks off the pitch, with the stadium simply left stunned in silence, which Etzebeth says made it even worse.
“I don’t remember any booing that day, but the silence was actually worse,” he added.
“When fans boo, it shows that they care, but that silence means they have no hope for you anymore.”
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Booze, win or lose
Things would not improve for the Springboks, who lost their remaining three fixtures of 2016, which included a first-ever loss to Italy.
The heavy loss in Durban was an indication that the Springboks were in crisis, but according to Etzebeth, many of his teammates couldn’t care less. However, the second-rower did admit that he struggles with how some players react to defeats.
“A few guys who went out and drank before the game went out again afterwards and came back drunk. How a player handles defeat tells me a lot about them, and I’m always frustrated with my teammates who aren’t hurting or are as angry as I am,” he wrote.
“I’ve never understood the philosophy of ‘on the booze, win or lose’.”
He added: “I’ve always thought that when you lose a match in professional rugby, especially a Test, you can’t act like you’ve played a friendly table tennis match and joke about it while drinking a few beers.
“If you accept defeat, it makes you a loser, and that’s why I have said to teammates, ‘You don’t look like you’re hurting enough.'”
