Etzebeth Cleared For Rugby Championship Clash Against New Zealand
Etzebeth Cleared For Rugby Championship Clash Against New Zealand
Eben Etzebeth returns from injury to face New Zealand in The Rugby Championship. The Springboks lock will start on the bench, aiming for his 125th cap.
South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth has been cleared to face New Zealand in the highly anticipated Rugby Championship showdown in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Initially ruled out of the match due to injury, Etzebeth has been named on the bench after passing a late fitness test.
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Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus originally excluded the two-time World Cup winner from matchday 23 when the team was announced on Tuesday. However, with a mounting injury crisis in the second row - leaving the Springboks without five regulars - Erasmus made the decision to include the towering lock as a replacement.
Etzebeth, who will be making his 125th appearance for South Africa if he takes the field, will move into second place outright on the country's all-time caps list. He would be just two appearances shy of legendary lock Victor Matfield.
“Our selection policy is normally that if a player doesn’t train on Monday, they won’t play on Saturday, but Eben has trained pain-free all week,” Erasmus explained. “It was a tough call, but we felt we needed to bring him into the squad, even if it meant dropping Marco [van Staden].”
In Etzebeth's absence from the starting lineup, flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit will move into the second row alongside Ruan Nortje, who earns his third cap for the Springboks.
South Africa leads the Rugby Championship standings with 10 points after two rounds, having secured back-to-back bonus-point wins in Australia. New Zealand sits in second place with five points.
The two teams will meet again in Cape Town on Sept. 7 in what promises to be another epic encounter.
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