Former Springbok coach issues warning to star player
· The South African
The last nine months have presented a number of a significant challenges for Eben Etzebeth, who received a straight red card for an eye gouge offence in the final Springbok Test of 2025, and subsequently had to serve a 12-match suspension.
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Just as he returned to play, Etzebeth then suffered an injury, while there have been growing concerns about his history of concussions, which was the latest setback that ruled him out of the July internationals.
It still remains to be seen when the 34-year-old will be given the all clear to return to Test action this year, although it’s expected that he will be available before the start of the All Blacks series in August.
Will Eben Etzebeth walk straight back into Springbok team?
Interestingly, former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has raised the question over his match readiness.
“A guy like Eben Etzebeth has taken such a long time to get back into the mix,” Mallett on the Talking Boks podcast.
“So you’ve got to have a question mark as to whether one game against Argentina and some really intense alignment camps are going to be enough for him to go straight into an All Blacks Test.
“You can only live on reputation for so long. You’ve actually got to perform,” Mallett added. “The players who’ve played over the last three weekends have all performed well.
“So the guys coming back from injury know this Argentina game is a very, very important one for them.”
What other options are there?
The fact of the matter is that the Springboks are a bit short on depth at No 4 lock, although Pieter-Steph du Toit can fill in there, while Cobus Wiese has impressed in an enforcer role of sorts.
South Africa are next in action against Argentina on 8 August.