Eben Etzebeth will seek to write another chapter in an already storied career when he takes the field for the Springboks in their Rugby Championship title decider against Argentina at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.The towering forward will become South Africa’s most-capped rugby Test player as he makes his 128th appearance, overtaking fellow lock Victor Matfield, who retired in 2015.The 32-year-old will hope to finish his record-breaking day by holding aloft the Rugby Championship trophy, which South Africa will secure unless Argentina can win with a bonus point and prevent the Springboks from earning a point.Etzebeth has already been in two Rugby World Cup-winning teams — in 2019 in Japan and 2023 in France –- and part of a victorious team against the visiting British and Irish Lions in 2021.He was a member of a team which won a shortened Rugby Championship in 2019, but South Africa have yet to come out on top in a full six-match programme since the southern hemisphere championship was expanded to four teams with the inclusion of Argentina from 2012.Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said the team wanted to make Saturday’s match “a special day” for Etzebeth.”If we can win the title and finish the competition off with a victory it would be a massive occasion for the team and Eben as an individual,” said Erasmus.Matfield led a chorus of praise for the 2.03-metre, 122-kilogram giant.He highlighted Etzebeth’s “athleticism and physicality” and his leadership qualities.”I really believe he’s the right-hand man of (captain) Siya (Kolisi),” said Matfield in a SuperSport TV discussion.”In the huddles, especially when they are under pressure, he’s the guy talking — not just talking, but leading from the front.”- ‘Rock of the pack’ -Former Springboks coach Nick Mallett said Etzebeth combined the best qualities of Matfield and Bakkies Botha, the other lock in a highly-acclaimed pairing who anchored the Springbok scrum when South Africa won the 2007 World Cup in France.”He’s got Victor’s athleticism, really good balls skills and a feel for the game. He’s got speed and he’s got (Botha’s) physicality in the ball carries and in the areas of the line-outs.”He’s a nightmare to play against because of his defensive abilities. He’s been the rock of the pack ever since he got in.”Etzebeth first attracted attention when he starred for the University of Cape Town in a televised Varsity Cup final in 2011. He played for the national under-20 team the same year.Barely a year later, aged 20, he made his debut for South Africa against England in June 2012.Etzebeth grew up in the tough northern suburbs of Cape Town. His father, Harry, was a wrestler and his uncle, Cliffie, was a Springbok wrestler and a renowned “hard man” prop forward for Western Province in the 1970s and early 1980s.Although he is now one of the most imposing figures in international rugby, he played as a three-quarter for most of his school career before a growth spurt of 20 centimetres when he was 16 led to a place in the pack.Now he is firmly established as one of world rugby’s biggest stars in every sense of the word.He has played a key role for the Springboks in a season in which he and newcomer Ruan Nortje have had a heavy workload in the absence of several leading locks, including World Cup winners Lood de Jager, Franco Mostert, Jean Kleyn and RG Snyman.Nortje and Etzebeth have dominated line-outs in this year’s Rugby Championship, according to the Opta analytics company, leading the competitions line-out wins with 31 and 24 takes, respectively.
