Eben Etzebeth has made a miraculous recovery from injury to force open a place on the Springboks’ bench for Saturday’s 5pm Rugby Championship Test against New Zealand at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
The 124-times capped lock comes in on the bench – replacing Marco van Staden, who was named in the original squad on Tuesday – after proving his fitness after initially complaining about a knee injury on Monday.
But Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says Etzebeth only felt a little discomfort on Monday and still trained to keep him in contention to be selected.
And after Etzebeth came through Tuesday’s session unscathed, Erasmus says of dropping Van Staden out of the match-day squad: “Our selection policy has always been that if a player does not train on a Monday he will not play on Saturday, but Eben has made it through training pain-free all week, so we had to make the tough call to name him in the squad at the expense of Marco.
“There were backup options for us at lock in the initial squad, but with Eben on the bench it means we have another specialist in that position in the team.
“We are blessed to have an expanded squad of about 45 players who have all bought into our plans and who understand what’s best for the team, and it’s admirable how Marco accepted the news. It shows the quality of the player and person he is.”
Etzebeth will become the second-most capped Springbok behind Victor Matfield (127 Tests) if he comes off the wood on Saturday for his 125th cap to pass Bryan Habana (124) with whom he currently shares the second spot.
The #Springboks team to face New Zealand in Johannesburg feature a new locking combination amongst a host of changes - more here: https://t.co/kllUmxNl5Q 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦#ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/ZONwaG7Jo4
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 27, 2024
Springboks: 15 Aphelele Fassie, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt.), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacement: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Handre Pollard.
Jozi weather: Sunny and warm with a chance of rugby 😉#Springboks #ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/SzA1HV9SDD
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 27, 2024