Eben Etzebeth describes Sharks’ historic Challenge Cup win as club career highlight

Sharks captain Eben Etzebeth described his team’s convincing 36-22 victory over Gloucester in the Challenge Cup final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Friday night as his greatest club highlight. 

Etzebeth lauded his team’s character for making history by becoming the first South African franchise to win the European title. 

The victory, which sealed their spot in next season’s Champions Cup, came off the back of a disappointing United Rugby Championship (URC) season where they dropped out of the play-off race after a slow start to the season. 

The double Rugby World Cup-winning Springbok lock said that was a big driving force going into the match. 

Their defence was tested thoroughly early in the match, but the manner in which the KwaZulu-Natalians absorbed the pressure and took control of the match was nothing short of admirable as they dominated the scrums completely and showed fantastic enterprise on attack. 

“The motivation (to win) was more within the team,” said Etzebeth. 

“To turn things around the way we did after where we were four or five months ago was fantastic. There was a big drive to win the Challenge Cup as a silver lining to our season, which hasn’t been great. 

“If you told us at the start of the season that we would win the EPCR Challenge Cup and qualify for the Investec Champions Cup, we would have taken it. The victory was special, and it felt as though we left our best performance for last. The guys were just incredible, and the physicality was great.” 

Commenting on the importance of the victory, Etzebeth said: “At club level this is by far the best memory. The last championship I won (at club level) was the Currie Cup in 2012, so it’s been 12 years. 

“This is the first international trophy the Sharks have won and to become the first South African to win in Europe is definitely one of my best memories ever.” 

Delving into the detail of their game plan Sharks head coach John Plumtree said: “We wanted to apply a lot of pressure up front because we knew it would probably be their strength, so by taking that away, we knew we would have a good chance. 

“I thought the scrum was outstanding, and the front row’s drive was very good, and they earned the rewards for it. So was the pressure game from our kicking game. 

“A lot of it was based around scoreboard pressure, which we had to keep building on, and credit to the guys for sticking to the plan.” 

The Sharks have one game remaining in the current season against the Bulls in the URC next Saturday and this victory will certainly motivate them to finish their season on another high note even though they will be playing purely for pride.