Nic White singles out two Springboks for special praise after recent Rugby Championship Tests

Wallabies scrum-half Nic White has sung the praises of Springboks duo Grant Williams and Eben Etzebeth after the recent Rugby Championship Tests between the teams in South Africa.

The Springboks hosted Australia in two thrilling encounters earlier this month with the visitors surprising the world champions in the first clash in Johannesburg as they secured a 38-22 victory.

That was a significant result as it was the Wallabies‘ first win over the Boks in South Africa in 12 years and it was also their first triumph at the world famous Ellis Park since 1963.

However, it was a different story when the sides met in a rematch in Cape Town a week later as South Africa sealed a hard-fought 30-22 win at DHL Stadium.

White, who has made 72 appearances for Australia since making his Test debut against Argentina in Perth in 2013, was one of the Wallabies’ best players in that win in Johannesburg.

However, he saw little action in Cape Town as he was forced off due to concussion after just 13 minutes but he left his stamp on that match as he set up the Wallabies’ first try with a perfectly weighted grubber kick – shortly before his departure – which Corey Toole gathered on his way over the try-line.

Williams was the Boks’ number nine who lined up against White in both those Tests and the Wallabies veteran revealed that he is a big fan of his counterpart’s style of play.

“Grant Williams, wow! He’s a talent, isn’t he? He’s unbelievable. You know, he’s lightning,” he told the Behind the Ruck podcast.

“He gets away from the breakdown like that (clicks his fingers).

“Like he’s gone three steps. And you know, certainly in that first game, he was firing some passes with some serious width that was troubling our defence.

“You know, you’ve got his pass mixed with (Manie) Libbok’s pass.

“And before you know it, they’ve come out of like eight, nine, ten defenders and they’re running up edges.”

White highlighted a previous shortcoming in Williams’ game but feels he has improved considerably and predicted a bright future for the Boks number nine.

‘He silenced that in the last two weeks massively’

“I think there was kind of question marks over his kicking, but he silenced that in the last two weeks massively,” he said.

“His kicking game was good. His passing game, he’s lightning quick. He’s fit.

“I think Grant Williams is going to be a real talent for the next little while.

“I had a little moment with him in the sheds after. Got to swap jerseys and we got a photo together because you know, I was pretty keen to swap jerseys with a guy like him because I think he’s going to be something special over the next bit of time.”

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Meanwhile, White also had special words of praise for behemoth Boks lock Etzebeth who has been a fixture in the Boks’ matchday squads since making his Test debut against England in 2012.

“There’s no way I’m going anywhere near Eben Etzebeth,” said.

“He’s huge. His arms are bigger than me. I don’t think Eben goes out of his way looking for it either.

“I would say that there’s a perception out there of Eben Etzebeth to be the enforcer and he certainly is a big man and enforces. But I think a huge part of his game is smart.

“So I think his kick chase, his work rate, he just has one of those abilities to be where the ball bounces around the scraps with your kicking game.

“He’s really smart. That try in the URC when I think the ball came out when someone was about to box kick it and he ran and just grabbed it and went the length.

“He’s really in tune with the game. Around the lineout, like he’ll come through lineouts, he’ll make some great reads.

‘He’s an incredibly smart footy player’

” I think he’s an incredibly smart footy player. Like he obviously gets all the raps for being an enforcer and a big man.

“Honestly, I think his knowledge of the game is something that I look at him and think that’s what makes him world-class.”

White emphasised how difficult it is to execute his box-kicking when facing a Boks team with Etzebeth in it and used the recent clash in Johannesburg as an example where the veteran second-row put plenty of pressure on him.

“I came off that game at Ellis Park two weeks ago and said to one of our coaches, ‘That’s the most pressure I’ve ever felt in my life on my box kicks’.

“I don’t know how I got them all away. There was a couple, I think if you look back, I decided to just sneak them past his ribs and just kind of kick them next to him rather than try to go over him because he got on top of me.

“And that was a real game within a game at Ellis Park. He was putting incredible pressure on my box kick. I said it immediately after the game, ‘That’s the most pressure I’ve ever felt’.

“I went back and had a look and I was like, ‘He’s got to be offside’. His timing was impeccable. I thought, unbelievable.

“He’s right up there. There are a couple of second-rowers that are up there with him.

“But again, he’s probably done some research on my kicking and (got) some cues there. But that was a real game within a game, that one. I never seen it.”

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