Eben is Bok’s GOAT, says Springbok legend Victor Matfield
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PLAT OP DIE AARDE: Eben Etzebeth says he is not focused on Test record
Springbok legend Victor Matfield says Eben Etzebeth could well be the national team’s GOAT - Greatest of all Time.
Set to equal fellow lock Matfield’s national record of 127 Springbok Test caps when South Africa tackle Argentina at the Santiago del Estero on Saturday, the former says the 32-year-old Etzebeth is worthy of being the new record-holder.
Matfield tells IOL: “He will probably equal it [this] weekend, and I don’t think there is a better player to do that.
“Eben will probably go down as the best player that has ever worn the green and gold – winning the World Cup twice, playing so many games and the type of player that he has been.
“He is also a SA Rugby Player of the Year a few times, and a World Rugby Player of the Year.
“He is an unbelievable rugby player, and I think he still has quite a few games in him. I think he can go up to 150 Test matches. It was nice for me to play a few games with him at the end of my career.”
The world record for the most Tests currently stands on 171 matches and is held by former Welsh second-rower Alun Wyn Jones.
Etzebeth, though, is playing it cool, saying: “As soon as you think you have arrived and you are now a star, your legs can get kicked out [under] you quite quickly.
“[That’s why] I would like to speak about that [record] when it happens. I am not one to talk of things before it happens.”