Formerly fiery Eben is growing as a captain
BUOYANT following the historic 2-0 win over Nigeria two months ago in the opening qualifier for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter named a quality side he expects to bejust as clinical in another all-important fixture next week.
Bafana face Cape Verde on September 1 in the first of two 2018 World Cupqualifiers – first at the Estadio Nacional Stadium in Praia and then in Durban four days later – and the coach was at great pains to remind all of the national team’s poor record against “so-called minors”.
The “Blue Sharks” are seen as the whipping boys of Group D, which also includes Burkina Faso and Senegal.
“The top nations are always more stimulating to play against,” said Baxter shortly after naming his 25-man squad that will assemble on Sunday.
“The truth is we have not been HE IS A bit like a firecracker with a short fuse, waiting for the smallest spark to set him off, but this is why the South African public loves Eben Etzebeth. However, when he was handed the captain’s armband in the absence of Mr Cool himself, Warren Whiteley, many were worried.
Etzebeth has always been a fiery character, and with the retirement of the legendary, no-nonsense Bakkies Botha, South African rugby was crying out for an explosive hardman. Up stepped the, still scarily young, 25-year-old Etzebeth.
He was applauded for his ferocity, aggression and his devastation with, or without, ball in hand. However, it does come with the territory that a man with these qualities may find himself on the wrong end of a referee who is less keen to see opposition bashed and bruised.
Yellow cards and stern warnings have always been a part of Etzebeth’s rugby career – and again, as fans, it was acceptable and just par for the course. But, and it is a big one, as a captain of the Springboks, can you really afford to be sin-binned?
The Stormers lock made his captaincy debut in the final game between France and the Boks, but by then all the fire had left the series as the French looked more keen to get home than to confront the notoriously hot-headed Etzebeth. In fact, he grabbed a try rather than getting involved in a fight in the third Test.
Etzebeth continued his perfect run as a winning Springbok captain last week, in Port Elizabeth, as the Boks defeated Argentina in their first Rugby Championship match. More importantly, however, for the stand-in captain, he did not lose his cool, when there was every chance to.
It all started with the team sheets as very good against the so-called minors. We can do well against Nigeria, but we can’t beat a side like Mauritania. We can’t take this for granted with our previous history, let alone the fact that we are playing a Cape Verde side with players from Portugal and they’re in their own backyard.”
The history Baxter refers to reared its ugly head during his predecessor Shakes Mashaba’s tenure, when Bafana failed to brush aside Gambia and Mauritania in crucial qualifiers for Afcon in Gabon earlier this year.
The national team were held to a shock, goalless draw in their opening match against the Scorpions in 2015 and followed that up by getting thumped 3-1 by Mauritania in what is now famously termed the ‘Nouakchott Debacle’, where Bafana arrived in the capital city and Mashaba, his technical staff, as well as the players, had no sort of intelligence or analysis on their opposition.
Baxter continued: “We said we wanted warriors going to Nigeria (where Bafana won for the first time ever in a qualifying match). We will need warriors here, too.
“The truth is that you don’t get easy games anymore, so we need to behumble as we have not been good in these sort of matches. We know that the six points will be huge for us.”
The venue that this away qualifier will be played on is an artificial pitch and Baxter said his squad had included a lot of players who would be well suited to that type of surface, especially his midfielders and strike-force. He’s made four changes to the team that caused an upset in Uyo, Nigeria, with Morgan Gould, Thulani Serero, Daylon Claasen and Bradley Grobler replacing Lorenzo Gordinho, the injured Aubrey Ngoma,Sibusiso Vilakazi and Thamsanqa Gabuza.
Gould (pictured) returns to the Bafana set-up after four years and his inclusion, which raised eyebrows because he is 34-yearsold, is motivated by the need for an experienced head in the dressing room, Baxter explained. Etzebeth would be lining up against Tomas Lavanini, the Pumas lock who has had a few close encounters with the Bok hardman in recent times.
However, Etzebeth focused on his core duties as a lock, rather than a brawler for the Boks. An additional test for the stand-in captain was dealing with French referee Romain Poite whose decisions and reasoning have often left many captains frustrated.
Poite was at his confusing best on Saturday, denying the Boks a first try when the Pumas knocked the ball out of Courtnall Skosan’s hands, backwards, only for Jan Serfontein to latch on. Poite ruled a knock on, and did not even entertain the thought of checking with the TMO – and Etzebeth accepted this, calmly.
Salta now looms large for the Boks, with a partisan crowd. More of the same has to be expected from Etzebeth if he is to help add depth to the leadership group of a young Bok side.
Additionally, he needs to truly justify his elevation as captain above his own franchise captain Siya Kolisi. There was a real opportunity for Allister Coetzee to name a black Springbok captain in the form of a very in-form Kolisi who led Etzebeth in Super Rugby and that sort of belief in making him captain seems partly to be a reason for his revival in the Bok jersey. Kolisi is the vice captain, and again is playing a role in strengthening the leadership depth for the Boks, but he does deserve a chance to wear the captain’s armband.
Of course, Etzebeth has done nothing wrong, and perhaps is becoming a better player with the weight of leadership on his shoulders. However, he needs to excel rather than coast in his role as captain, and a few more composed, but controlled aggressive showings in hostile territories such as Salta will indeed vindicate the choice of making the fiery lock a Bok captain.
“The selection reflects very clearly that we will play on an artificial pitch. Look at the omission and inclusion of certain players – these guys are more suited to that type of surface.
“Bradley links play and we haven’t gone for extreme target play,” the coach explained. “We want tighter ball control and mobility. Daylon has been out for a while, but from his time in Germany he understands counter-attack pressing play. He can play as a No 10 or the role that (Themba) Zwane has been playing. Part of the rationale is that we are playing on this sort of turf, so we went for guys who deliver a performance on that kind of pitch and can do a job for us.”
• Bafana are second in Group D of the World Cup qualifiers after a 1-1 draw away to Burkina Faso and a controversial 2-1 victory at home against Senegal last year.