On Saturday 16 July, against Wales, 30-year-old lock Eben Etzebeth became the youngest man to earn 100 caps for the Springboks.
Eben Etzebeth is an imposing figure by any measure. Standing 2.03m tall and weighing about 120kg with a single-digit fat percentage, he is a massive, strong man. A supreme athlete.
The fear is more psychological at the highest level. Opponents know that he is going to hurt them physically when he smashes into a ruck, makes a tackle or carries into contact. That’s accepted. But the hurt that opponents fear is damage he can inflict on their line-out, on their gain line or on their scrum. Rugby carnage, in other words.
The 30-year-old is an underrated ball carrier and ball player because of his massive physicality and because his basic locking skills are excellent.He might enjoy running over people, but it’s not necessarily his only option. Etzebeth is a proper ball player, which probably stems from his formative years as a backline player.
The perception is that he must have fallen foul of the law much more often than he has. But it just serves to underline that perceptions about Etzebeth are misleading. He fulfils the duties of a world-class lock, but he is far more than that.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Eben Etzebeth on course to become the most experienced BokLatest Springbok centurion Eben Etzebeth's career will continue to prosper and he will likely become the team's most capped player.
Read more »
Wales tell Eben what’s in store for his futureWales head coach Wayne Pivac has tipped “world class” Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth to remain a formidable figure for the world champions for many years to come.
Read more »
Bok Ratings | Sizzling collective effort from Boks comfortably saves series bacon, Wiese disappoints | SportA fiery collective effort on red letter days for Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi were the highlights of an efficient Bok performance that shut out Wales' hopes of a landmark series win. | Sport24news
Read more »