Lock has finished all the training sessions and has been drafted onto the replacements bench
28 August 2024 - 17:25
by Sports staff
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Eben Etzebeth is all smiles after the Boks beat Australia in Brisbane. The lock is on the bench for Saturday’s Test against the All Blacks. Picture: MORGAN HANCOCK/GETTY IMAGES
Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth has been cleared to face the All Blacks in their crucial Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park on Saturday after completing all the training sessions this week and has been drafted onto the replacements bench.
Coach Rassie Erasmus has released four players to their Currie Cup teams to get some valuable game time this weekend.
Etzebeth, who was initially excluded from the Boks’ match 23 for the first of two Tests against their southern hemisphere arch-rivals due to an injury concern earlier in the week, replaces Marco van Staden on the bench. That offers the team specialist lock cover for the starting combination of Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ruan Nortje.
Should he get game time, Etzebeth will be fielded in his 125th Test in the green and gold jersey, which will see him leapfrog Bryan Habana as the second-most-capped Springbok and take one step closer to Victor Matfield’s record of 127 caps.
“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,” Erasmus said.
“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.
“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.”
Erasmus released four players — prop Steven Kitshoff, flyhalf Manie Libbok and wings Canan Moodie and Makazole Mapimpi — to their provincial unions on Wednesday.
SA squad
Aphelele Fassi, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach, Jasper Wiese, Ben-Jason Dixon, Siya Kolisi (capt), Ruan Nortjé, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche
Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth, Elrigh Louw, Kwagga Smith, Grant Williams, Handré Pollard
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Eben Etzebeth cleared for All Blacks Test
Lock has finished all the training sessions and has been drafted onto the replacements bench
Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth has been cleared to face the All Blacks in their crucial Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park on Saturday after completing all the training sessions this week and has been drafted onto the replacements bench.
Coach Rassie Erasmus has released four players to their Currie Cup teams to get some valuable game time this weekend.
Etzebeth, who was initially excluded from the Boks’ match 23 for the first of two Tests against their southern hemisphere arch-rivals due to an injury concern earlier in the week, replaces Marco van Staden on the bench. That offers the team specialist lock cover for the starting combination of Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ruan Nortje.
Should he get game time, Etzebeth will be fielded in his 125th Test in the green and gold jersey, which will see him leapfrog Bryan Habana as the second-most-capped Springbok and take one step closer to Victor Matfield’s record of 127 caps.
“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,” Erasmus said.
“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.
“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.”
Erasmus released four players — prop Steven Kitshoff, flyhalf Manie Libbok and wings Canan Moodie and Makazole Mapimpi — to their provincial unions on Wednesday.
SA squad
Aphelele Fassi, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach, Jasper Wiese, Ben-Jason Dixon, Siya Kolisi (capt), Ruan Nortjé, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche
Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth, Elrigh Louw, Kwagga Smith, Grant Williams, Handré Pollard
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