Boks desperately want Etzebeth back for Test against All Blacks

The Springboks’ desperation to get Eben Etzebeth in their starting team against the All Blacks for Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test is hardly surprising but so too should be the need to restore Pieter-Steph du Toit to the position in which he can make the biggest impact.

Etzebeth was not selected for the Test at Ellis Park because of a knee injury but the Boks are prepared to bend their own selection protocols to make sure their second row talisman is ready for a clash that could go a long way to securing them a first Rugby Championship title since 2019.

Etzebeth injured meniscus in training on Saturday, which head coach Rassie Erasmus explained as one that did not invite trauma. “It came about from him changing feet during a scrum session and it wasn’t a case of a teammate running into him to a point where there’s a tear and everything is in pieces. It was a live scrum and Eben took a lot of weight on one side and twisted his knee. Hopefully, the mechanics aren’t that bad with big trauma,” he said.

Erasmus explained the decision to omit Etzebeth from the squad and why the door was left ajar for his inclusion after Tuesday’s practice. “We announced the team last night [Monday, to the team] with Eben out because if you don’t train on the Monday after the team is announced internally, you don’t play on Saturday.

“Eben did the whole training session on Monday and we need to see how Tuesday’s one goes, from where I’ll have a chat with all the players to see if we’ll make a change.” said Erasmus, careful to avoid an undercurrent of discontent in the squad.

“He may miraculously recover and the doctor said there was some science behind that and not just the will to play for the big occasion like the All Blacks. If that’s the case, we’ll be happy, but it will be very unlucky in terms of one of Elrigh [Louw], Marco [van Staden], or Kwagga [Smith] in terms of being left out.”

Louw, Van Staden and Smith are earmarked for the bench and one of them will lose out should Etzebeth start, Du Toit is restored to the No 7 jersey and Ben-Jason Dixon drops to the bench.“We’ll think clearly, see how Pieter-Steph moves, from where we’ll make the call,” said the coach.

Given the crisis at lock — with Lood de Jager, Franco Mostert, Salmaan Moerat, RG Snyman and Jean Kleyn all injured — Du Toit’s move there seems an almost obvious decision but it is in the No 7 jersey where he has become one of the most destructive players in the modern game.

Though Du Toit, who made his debut at lock against Wales 11 years ago, is a willing and able workhorse in the second row, it is at flank where he wreaks havoc as the All Blacks discovered in the World Cup final in Paris last year.

It is perhaps also worth noting, with Du Toit in the second row the Boks haven’t yielded the results they had hoped for. The last time he started at lock against the All Blacks, the Boks lost 57-15 at Kings Park in 2016. Two weeks prior in Christchurch they also lost to the All Blacks with him in that position.

Subsequent to the Durban loss, the Boks suffered away defeats to Italy and Wales in 2016 with Du Toit starting at lock. The Erasmus era kicked off with Du Toit at lock and as captain in 2018 when they lost to Wales in Washington, and they suffered a defeat to England later that year with him in the same position.

Since 2016 the Boks also recorded wins over France, Argentina and Australia as well as a draw against the later team with Du Toit at lock.

Erasmus said he was happy with a Du Toit/Ruan Nortje formation in the second row but it is with the 2019 world player of the year at No 7 where the Springboks take their game to the limit.