Etzebeth times his fitness run perfectly for international season with Springboks

Like a fine sprinter who times their run to the line perfectly, Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth has a habit of timing his fitness to coincide with the national team’s needs.

It may just be blind luck that the brilliant second-rower, the most-capped Springbok in history with 131 Test appearances, often misses large chunks of the club season but is generally available for the Boks.

No one plans injuries. Just look at RG Snyman. In four years with Irish club Munster he played fewer than 2o games. In his initial three seasons with Munster he played a total of 54 minutes after being cut down with a variety of injuries.

Yet, in his first season with Irish rivals Leinster, Snyman featured more than 20 times, was ever-present for selection and won Player of the Year. If you’re a Munster fan it must hurt.

Sharks fans might feel something similar with regards to Etzebeth and his long periods of absence. He has missed about six months of the club campaign in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and Champions and Challenge Cups over the past two seasons.

Yet in that time he has hardly missed a Bok Test through injury. Lucky for South Africa, not so lucky for the Sharks.

This week, after an injury-plagued URC season, in which Etzebeth missed about 20 weeks, primarily through complications from concussion, but also because of mandatory Bok resting protocols, the great man announced himself ready for the Test season.

“I’ve recovered from everything now,” Etzebeth said at a pre-season media gathering in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

“Obviously, I didn’t have the best run – the concussion and injury kept me out for about four, four-and-a-half months, which wasn’t ideal. Then I had a minor setback just before the URC semifinal, but I’m fully back in training and very excited for the rest of the season.

“As you get older, it does take a bigger toll on your body. Of course, I would’ve liked to play more this season, but the time off has helped me rest and recover,” he said.

“You don’t just sit around – you rehab, work on areas that have been troubling you. You get your whole body strong again. So, while not playing is frustrating, there are positives like getting the body right and spending time with family.”

Motivated

The pattern of missing large swathes of club rugby while representing the Boks with distinction has plagued (benefited?) Etzebeth’s international career and probably added to his longevity.

Etzebeth made his Test debut as a 21-year-old against England in June 2012, having made 13 Stormers appearances in Super Rugby that year.

He became the youngest player, at 24, to reach 50 Test caps when he achieved that milestone in September 2016 against the Wallabies.

Remarkably though, in the three-and-a-half Super Rugby seasons following his Test debut in 2012, he only made another 29 Stormers appearances by the time he left in 2015.

When he reached his 50th Test cap he had played a total of 42 times for the Stormers in five seasons and a further eight times for NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes in Japan.

Etzebeth’s 100th Test cap followed in Cape Town against Wales in July 2022 while he was contracted to French club Toulon, for whom he made 40 appearances.

Now, at 33, he is comfortably on course for 150 Test caps given that his performances have been nothing short of stellar at Test level for the past two seasons.

And he keeps improving. In 2023 and 2024 he was shortlisted for World Player of the Year, losing out to Ardie Savea and Pieter-Steph du Toit respectively. It was unlucky, but everyone in his team knows, understands and appreciates his contribution and value.

And despite his “hard man/enforcer” reputation, Etzebeth has only received three yellow cards in those 131 appearances.

“As you gain more experience, you gain a greater appreciation for the flow of the game,” Etzebeth told this writer on the eve of his 100th Test. “You get an idea of the referees and what they’re looking for. While you play on the edge, you don’t push it too far.”

And having won almost everything there is to win in the game from a Springbok perspective, is he still as motivated as before?
“I’ve been asked that a few times. For me, it’s about putting on the Springbok jersey one more time,” Etzebeth said this week.

“That’s the ultimate goal. The day I can’t play for the Boks anymore will be a very sad day for me.

“There’s no better feeling than running out in a full stadium in South Africa – Loftus, Cape Town, wherever – with 50,000 people behind you. It’s incredibly special, and it motivates me every time.”

Lood back

In some other good news relating to the Bok locks, Lood de Jager returned to the Bok set-up for the first time in two years after a series of injuries and setbacks.

Along with Snyman, who missed most of the period between 2020 and 2023 through injury, and veteran warhorse Franco Mostert, the Boks have a quartet of quality, grizzled warhorses to choose from.

“It’s amazing to have him (De Jager) back – and RG (Snyman) too,” said Etzebeth. “I think it’s the first time since 2019 that all of us are back together in the Springbok mix, which is special.

“We’ve been through a lot together – good times and tough times – and it’s great to see Lood performing well again (at the Saitama Wild Knights in Japan). He’s an exceptional player.”

It takes one to know one. DM