It would have been music to the ears of the coaches and players from the two South African franchises contending for top four placings on the Vodacom United Rugby Championship log that Eben Etzebeth was fronting an online press conference from Durban on Tuesday.
That was confirmation that Etzebeth is back in the Hollywoodbets Sharks mix after being out for seven weeks to undergo a minor operation on a troublesome knee niggle. And Etzebeth confirmed that his fellow double World Cup winning Springbok forward will also be in the selection mix for Saturday’s clash with Ulster at Hollywoodbets Kings Park.
Why that will be good news for the Vodacom Bulls and in particular the DHL Stormers is that Ulster are still strongly in contention for a top four spot, which signifies home ground advantage in the first match of the Finals Series. The Stormers are currently ninth but can jump into the top four if they beat Edinburgh in Cape Town and the Sharks do the business against Ulster.
With the Cape side set to face Ulster next, the two local coastal teams can seriously hurt the Ulster challenge over the next two weeks. Not that Etzebeth will really be thinking about his former teammates when he takes the field on Saturday afternoon, for him it is all about restoring some of the pride in the Sharks jersey and trying to build momentum for a strong challenge in the EPCR Challenge Cup.
“I think it is the first time this season most of our top players are playing and it will certainly be the first time Vincent plays for the Sharks,” said Etzebeth, who last week became a consecutive winner of the SA Rugby Player of the Year award.
“I think Bongi (Mbonambi) was back against the Stormers, but this is the first time we will all be playing and collectively it is the strongest 23 we will field this season. But while it will be a boost to have everyone back it is easy to talk about it. It is what happens on the field that counts.”
Etzebeth said that his operation had worked for him and he is ready now to make a step up from where he was before he went into his break seven weeks ago.
“I had been struggling with the knee for a while, from before the World Cup. It was the perfect time for me to have the operation with the break that it entailed as it meant that while I was out for seven weeks, I only missed two derby matches (against the Stormers and Emirates Lions). I initially wanted to do it straight after the World Cup but the timing wasn’t goo as at the time we had two Boks out.
“It already feels better than it was before the operation so that is a big positive for me,” added the Bok lock.
Etzebeth is clearly getting tired of being part of what is starting to be assumed to be a losing culture at the Sharks, and he sounds determined to set that right in the remainder of the season. While a top eight position on the URC log and automatic qualification for next year’s Investec Champions Cup is now beyond the Sharks, the EPCR Challenge Cup is still an avenue the Sharks can exploit to get into the elite European competition.
“It has not been a good season for us and to be honest there are no excuses for that,” said Etzebeth.
“We just need to take a hard look at ourselves, both as individuals and as a collective. We have had plans in place but we just haven’t been executing them well enough. We will be looking to rectify that for the remainder of the season so we can start next season feeling more confident.
“In the URC we will target home games, and obviously the Challenge Cup is now something we are really targeting as it will mean we can get into the Champions Cup if we win it, and it will also bring us some silverware. Unfortunately, trying to qualify by making the top eight in the URC is no longer possible, which is really disappointing if you consider how early in the season it still is.
“But there is always pride in the jersey and a lot to play for in that regard. We want to make it difficult for guys to come to Durban. We need to get a few good away wins too. We want to get to a point where the other teams won’t want to be playing against us.”