Springbok captain suffers personal tragedy ahead of All Blacks game

On Tuesday, Eben Etzebeth was named as the captain of the Springboks team to face New Zealand in the second Rugby Championship Test in Auckland on Saturday.

Tragically, leading South African rugby writer Hendrik Cronje has just shared the news that Eben’s father, Harry Etzebeth, passed away on Tuesday night.

Team announcement: Etzebeth leads strong Springboks side

It’s stated that the decision on whether Eben will continue to play against the All Blacks this weekend, or return home, will be left with him.

Thoughts and condolences from TheSouthAfrican.com go out to Eben and the entire Etzebeth family.

He asked to play in the Bloem test against Wales last year so that he could reach his 100th in Cape Town. The reason is that it was difficult for his dad, Harry, to travel. He wanted to achieve the milestone with him there. Special 🙏🤗 https://t.co/2Y0SA3S425

— Hendrik Cronjé (@hendrikcronje71) July 12, 2023

I believe Eben will have to make the call himself if he wants to play on Saturday or not. The Bok management will leave it up to Eben to decide. https://t.co/8iFqCXUbqu

— Hendrik Cronjé (@hendrikcronje71) July 12, 2023

Condolences to Eben Etzebeth and his family after his father, Harry, passed away last night.

— Hendrik Cronjé (@hendrikcronje71) July 12, 2023

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Etzebeth was named captain of a powerful Springbok team to face New Zealand in Auckland:

15 – Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 84 caps, 65 pts (13t)
14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 23 caps, 74pts (11t, 2c, 5p)
13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 32 caps, 30 pts (6t)
12 – Damian de Allende (Panasonic Wild Knights) – 70 Tests, 45pts (9t)
11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks) – 36 caps, 110pts (22t)
10 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 28 caps, 36 pts (2t, 4c, 4p, 2d)
9 – Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) – 46 Tests, 41pts (5t, 2c, 4p)
8 – Jasper Wiese (Leicester) – 20 caps, 5pts (1t)
7 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 63 caps, 15pts (3t)
6 – Kwagga Smith (Blue Revs) – 31 caps, 20pts (4t)
5 – Lood de Jager (Panasonic Wild Knights) – 65 caps, 25pts (5t)
4 – Eben Etzebeth (captain, Cell C Sharks) – 110 caps, 15pts (3t)
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 59 caps, 5 pts (1t)
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks) – 57 caps, 60 pts (12t)
1 – Steven Kitshoff (Ulster) – 72 caps, 10pts (2t)

Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 59 caps, 70pts (14t)
17 – Thomas du Toit (Bath) – 16 caps, 0 pts
18 – Vincent Koch (Cell C Sharks) – 42 caps, 0 pts
19 – RG Snyman (Munster) – 24 caps, 5 pts (1t)
20 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 67 caps, 30 pts (6t)
21 – Duane Vermeulen (SA Rugby) – 66 caps, 15 pts (3t)
22 – Grant Williams (Cell C Sharks) – 2 caps, 0 pts
23 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 4 caps, 19 pts (8c, 1p)

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Springbok record against New Zealand

Played 103; Won 38; Lost 61; Drawn 4; Points for: 1 674, Points against: 2 143; Tries scored 160, Tries conceded 234; Highest score 46-40; Biggest win 17 points. Win % 37%.

Milestones:

• Eben Etzebeth will captain the Springboks for the 13^th time on Saturday. His last Test as captain was on 20 July 2019 against Australia at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg.
• Saturday’s clash will mark the 28^th time Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am join forces in the Springbok midfield.
• The last time the Springboks suffered a defeat in New Zealand was in 2017. They beat the All Blacks 36-34 in 2018, while the sides played to a 16-16 draw in 2019.

Miscellaneous:

• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 797.
• There are 320 caps in the backline, with 477 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 280 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 45, the forwards 59, while the players on the bench average 35.

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