In the next few weeks, one legend of Springbok rugby will happily pass on his record to another.
In the next two Bok matches – if selected to play against the Pumas in Argentina and then a week after that against the same opposition at Mbombela Stadium – lock Eben Etzebeth will equal and then overtake the record number of Test matches played for South Africa, currently held by Victor Matfield.
The former Bok skipper and lock ended his illustrious 14-year international career having donned the green and gold, the prancing Springbok on his breast, an impressive 127 times.
Etzebeth has done so on 126 occasions.
Matfield, however, can’t think of any one else more deserving to hold the moniker of most capped Bok Test player, and yesterday, while touring Johannesburg with the Currie Cup, was magnanimous in his praise for the 32-year-old.
“Eben will probably go down as the best player that has ever worn the green and gold”
Said the 2007 World Cup winner: “He will probably equal it next 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.”
Currently 19th on the list of most capped men’s Test players, Etzebeth – as pointed out by Matfield – still has a number of years before him.
He perhaps won’t reach the men’s record of 171 matches played by Welshman Alun Wyn Jones, but he can certainly reach Matfield’s guess of 150 – if injury and form are kind to him – in the next three years.
Only one other player has done so – Sam Whitelock of New Zealand, who recently retired with 153 caps to his name – while the next best, Richie McCaw, finished his outstanding career on 148.
Etzebeth started his Test career in 2012, making his debut under Heyneke Meyer on the Springbok Incoming Tour of England.
Since then, he has faced 13 other Test-playing nations and the British & Irish Lions, too, winning 62% of matches as a Bok.
No doubt his objective will be to play in the 2027 Rugby World Cup – which will be his fourth – in Australia to help South Africa defend the Webb Ellis Cup and achieve the ‘three-peat’ by winning the championship for a third successive time.
Eben Etzebeth, playmaker.
— Murray Kinsella (@Murray_Kinsella) September 10, 2024
Fantastic work running at Sam Cane's inside shoulder to lure him in before releasing the short pass to WLR as Sevu Reece worries about PSDT wider out.
Etzebeth has clearly enjoyed showing off his skills more in recent months. pic.twitter.com/A9OUrwlJlH
Matfield believes, from a fitness point of view, he can achieve this longevity.
“He has got the physical attributes that a Bakkies (Botha) had, and he also has an engine on him,” said Matfield.
“A lot of the big, strong boys don’t have that engine that he can run with, as well. If you see box-kicks going up and Eben, he is in the front, chasing those high balls. His work rate around the park is unbelievable.
“As a youngster, everyone was always worried about his discipline. As he has matured, he has also turned into one of the leaders of the group. He’s probably (Bok captain Siya Kolisi’s) right-hand man in that leadership group,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, in Springbok team news, Morné van den Berg will join Etzebeth and Co in Argentina after the Lions scrumhalf was recalled to the squad yesterday, with Grant Williams ruled out due to an arm injury.