Eben Etzebeth crowned SA Rugby’s best for second consecutive year

Player of the Year awards are a reward for a high level of consistency over the course of a season. Eben Etzebeth is certainly deserving of his second SA Player of the Year gong by that measurement.

But his stellar performances in 2023 were just an extension of a career, in which his average performance is usually at a level few players can aspire to. And when Etzebeth really plays well, it’s otherworldly.

Etzebeth, now 32, who made his Test debut in 2012, was this year rightly acknowledged on a short list of exceptional candidates for the award – Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, Frans Malherbe and Damian Willemse – on the back of a phenomenal year for SA rugby.

The Boks winning Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2023 was the crowning glory, but the Stormers made the United Rugby Championship final too.

For all Etzebeth’s brilliance in 2023, nothing summed up his game-deciding influence as much as his monumental performance against France in the quarterfinals of RWC 2023.

The Boks’ 29-28 win in the quarterfinal over the hosts at Stade de France in Saint Denis was the match of the tournament. And it was one of the greatest Test matches of all time.

There were some individual performances in that match that went beyond brilliant – from France hooker Peato Mauvaka and scrumhalf Antoine Dupont, to the Boks’ Kurt-Lee Arendse, Ox Nché, Jesse Kriel and Handré Pollard’s collectors’ items.

But no display that October night, and arguably no performance throughout the entire year in any corner of the world, was as colossal as Etzebeth’s against Les Bleus.

He scored what was the match-defining try 12 minutes from time, dragging three French defenders over the line. Earlier he stopped a certain French try with the most courageous out-stretched arm in RWC history. His intervention saved five points, literally by his fingertips, but even more so, by his sheer willpower.

In that match, Etzebeth was seemingly everywhere, all at once, taking a lineout here, making a huge tackle there and cajoling teammates everywhere. He even earned only his second yellow card in more than 110 Tests in that contest for being marginally high in a tackle. It was a performance that had everything.

“Eben was at the front of the Springboks’ charge to their second Rugby World Cup title, backed up by the rest of the squad, coaches and management, all of whom deserve recognition for a remarkable season for South African rugby,” said SA Rugby Union president Mark Alexander.

“The 2023-season will be ingrained in our memories for decades to come, with the Springboks setting the tone and doing so much for nation building and social cohesion in South Africa, but all of our national teams did well, and we are proud of all the winners.”

Other winners

Coach of the Year

Winners