Eben Etzebeth

Early Life Etzebeth is born into a family of professional wrestlers and grew up in Parow. He is a late-bloomer in terms of height and weight, as he was a winger, centre or even a fly-half when he started 7th grade equivalent as he stood only 1.5m tall at around 56kg in the school's B-team. He was also a sprinter and high jumper. His growth spurt came at 11th grade with the 50cm growth spurt and gained 50kg of mass, which facilitated his move from the backs to becoming a lock.

Club career Western Province and Stormers Etzebeth entered the Western Province youth structures in 2009, featuring in the Under-18 Craven Week tournament. however injury stalled his progress in the second half of the year and he was unable to play any part in the 2011 Currie Cup.

His injury didn't stop him from being named in the Stormers squad for the 2012 Super Rugby season. He recovered from injury in time for the start of the campaign and debuted on 25 February 2012 against the . In total, he made 13 appearances during the season and managed to score 1 try as the Stormers won 14 of their 16 league matches before eventually losing to the in the semi-finals.

International commitments kept him out of the early stages of the 2012 Currie Cup, but he returned at the tail-end of the tournament, winning his first 3 Western Province caps and helping them to lift their first Currie Cup title since 2002. He was awarded the Man of the Match award as Province gained revenge on the with a 25–18 win in Durban.

Injury ruled Etzebeth out of the first half of the 2013 Super Rugby season, but he returned for the second half of the campaign, playing 8 matches and scoring 1 try. He also won a team-high 47 lineouts and effected 8 steals on opposition throws.

The first 6 months of 2014 saw Etzebeth a foot injury sustained while on international duty in November 2013 ruled him out of the entire campaign. He remained committed to both of his Cape Town-based sides and in April 2013, he signed a deal that would keep him tied to Western Province and the Stormers until 2016.

NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes Osaka In July 2015, he signed a deal to play for NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes Osaka in the Japanese Top League.

Toulon In December 2018, Top 14 side announced Etzebeth would join them after the 2019 Rugby World Cup. In January 2021, he made a start at Blindside Flank for the first time after teammate Swan Rebbadj got injured prior to kick off.

Sharks In February 2022, the Sharks signed Etzebeth on a long-term contract until 2027. On the 24 May 2024 Etzebeth captained the Sharks in their Challenge Cup final win over Gloucester Rugby. Becoming the first South African team to win a major European rugby trophy.

International career South Africa U20s Eben Etzebeth was a member of the South Africa Under 20 team that competed in the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship in Italy where the Baby Boks finished in 5th place.

Springboks

Etzebeth was called up to the Springbok squad for the first time by new head coach Heyneke Meyer ahead of the three match series against England in June 2012.

He made his first appearance in the second row alongside fellow debutant Juandré Kruger on 9 June 2012 at Kings Park Stadium, Durban. South Africa were victorious by 22–17. Despite suffering from some injury setbacks along the way, Etzebeth has maintained his position as first choice in the number 4 jersey throughout his Springbok career. By the end of the 2014 Rugby Championship he had made 29 appearances for his national team and is yet to score a try. Uniquely he has made more international appearances than he has Super Rugby and Currie Cup appearances combined. He also debuted for South Africa before he had played any Vodacom Cup or Currie Cup rugby for Western Province. At 25 years of age, Etzebeth was able to bench press , and perform incline dumbbell chest presses with dumbbells in 2018.

Etzebeth was selected by the Springboks in the 31-man squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, making an appearance in every one of the team's pool matches, including one off the bench in South Africa's historic 32–34 loss to Japan. After starting in the rest of the pool matches, Etzebeth started in the quarter-final win against Wales and the semi-final 18–20 narrow loss to New Zealand. On 30 October 2015, with the Springboks having been knocked out of the chance to win the World Cup for the second time, Etzebeth started in a locking partnership with retiring captain Victor Matfield against Argentina for the Bronze Final. Etzebeth played the full 80 minutes of the bronze final and scored a try in the 43rd minute, helping South Africa to win third place in the competition.

Etzebeth played his 50th test for South Africa, against Australia in round 3 of the 2016 Rugby Championship and became the youngest South African player in history to reach the milestone, being only 24 years old at the time. The match was a disappointment for the Springboks and for Etzebeth, who was yellow-carded in the 41st minute of their 17–23 loss against the Wallabies.

After captaining the Springboks to beat France 35–12 in the final match of a three-test series between the two sides, Etzebeth was named as captain of the Springboks for the 2017 Rugby Championship, replacing newly appointed captain Warren Whiteley who was ruled out of the competition with an injury sustained in the second test of the French series. Whiteley failed to recover prior to the end of the 2017 season so this saw Etzebeth carry a huge workload for South Africa in 2017, playing the full 80 minutes of every match in the 2017 Rugby Championship and three-test French series. Etzebeth's 2017 campaign included what was arguably the best performance of his career in a narrow 24–25 loss to New Zealand in Cape Town.

After playing the full 80 minutes in South Africa's 3–38 loss to Ireland and 18–17 win over France on the end-of-year-tour, Etzebeth was finally subbed off for the first time in 2017 where he was replaced by Franco Mostert in a 35–6 win over Italy. Etzebeth was subbed off at half-time in the final test of 2017 where South Africa lost 22–24 against Wales, picking up a back injury.

In addition to full international matches, Etzebeth has played in non-cap matches against a World XV in Cape Town 2015 and the Barbarians in London in 2016.

Etzebeth was named in South Africa's squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. South Africa went on to win the tournament, defeating England in the final.

On 16 July 2022, Etzebeth won his 100th cap for South Africa in a 30–14 win over Wales becoming only the 7th Springbok to reach this milestone.

On 28 September 2024, Etzebeth won his 128th cap for South Africa in a match against Argentina in Nelspruit surpassing Victor Matfield as the most capped Springbok. The match was a success, winning 48-7 and securing the 2024 Rugby Championship.

Etzebeth was handed a 12-week ban following an eye gouge in South Africa's 73–0 victory over Wales in November 2025, an act he claimed was reckless rather than intentional. Etzebeth stated during the hearing he feared being ‘rag-dolled’ by Mann.

Honours Western Province 2012 Currie Cup winner

Sharks European Challenge Cup: 2023–24

South Africa 2019 Rugby Championship winner 2019 Rugby World Cup winner 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa winner 2023 Rugby World Cup winner 2024 Rugby Championship winner 2025 Rugby Championship winner SA Rugby Awards SA Rugby Men's Player of the Year: 2022, 2023

Springbok statistics Test Match Record

Against P W D L Tri Pts %Won 25 20 1 4 2 10 22 11 2 9 2 10 3 2 0 1 0 0 13 8 1 4 1 5 8 7 0 1 2 10 2 2 0 0 0 0 11 5 0 6 0 0 6 6 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 27 9 1 17 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 7 7 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 13 9 0 4 2 10 Total 144 92 5 47 9 45 Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Pts = Points Scored

Test tries Try Opposition Location Venue Competition Date Result1 Brisbane, Australia Suncorp Stadium 2015 Rugby Championship 2 London, United Kingdom Olympic Stadium 2015 Rugby World Cup 3 Johannesburg, South Africa Ellis Park Test match 4 London, England Twickenham 2022 November tests 5 Johannesburg, South Africa Ellis Park 2023 Rugby Championship 6 Paris, France Stade de France 2023 Rugby World Cup 7 Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium 2024 Autumn Nations Series 8 Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town Stadium 2025 Rugby Championship 9 Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium 2025 Autumn Nations Series

Super Rugby statistics

Season Team Games Starts Sub Mins Tries Points 2012 13 13 1 923 1 5 0 0 2013 Stormers 8 7 1 591 1 5 0 0 2014 Stormers Did not play 2015 Stormers 11 10 1 792 0 0 0 0 2016 Stormers 10 10 0 741 2 10 0 0 2017 Stormers 12 12 0 909 0 0 1 0 2018 Stormers Did not play 2019 Stormers 8 6 2 430 0 0 0 0Total 61 57 4 4306 4 20 14 2

Personal life Etzebeth married actress and singer Anlia van Rensburg on Saturday 4 February 2023 at the La Paris estate in Franschhoek, Western Cape. Their first child was born in January 2024. In February 2025, they announced they're expecting a second child. And in October of the same year, their second daughter was born.

Van Rensburg sang the South African national anthem on Etzebeth's 100th test cap.