We can win the World Cup
He’s a man of a few words but speaking about the state of Springbok rugby, Eben Etzebeth had a lot to say
● The Springboks have experienced turbulence in recent weeks, but lock Eben Etzebeth is confident they will soon negotiate their way to cruise control and avoid the current blip developing into a worrying complex.
Before they played New Zealand in the Rugby Championship yesterday, the Springboks had suffered two successive defeats to leave coach Rassie Erasmus under pressure and the national team effectively out of the running to win the title.
Etzebeth said the Boks would approach the remainder of the Rugby Championship against Australia in Port Elizabeth and New Zealand at Loftus — and the end of the year tour to Europe — with the World Cup next year firmly on their minds.
“Rassie’s plan is a good one and he is an exceptional coach. The guys have bought into his vision and the World Cup will always be at the back of our minds in between the matches we are going to play, and we need to win,” said the 26-year-old Stormers player who is also part of the Bok leadership group.
Since he took over the coaching job earlier this year, Erasmus has divided public opinion with his plan of giving opportunities to younger players to gain experience and trying different combinations. It has been widely criticised.
“Unfortunately, the results have not gone our way recently because we missed a number of opportunities against Argentina and Australia to score more tries. I think that, as the guys continue to play together in the coming months, we will start putting those opportunities away and get better in the build-up to the World Cup,” said Etzebeth, adding that the Boks had the potential to go on and win the tournament in Japan.
“Yes, I believe we can win the World Cup because we have young players who will continue to impress in the coming months. The spirit among the guys is very good and we fight for each other. Everyone on the team that will be going to the tournament will rate their chances because anything can happen. If there is a player in our team who does not believe that we can win the tournament, I will tell him to stop competing.”
Despite pressure from the fans, Erasmus has said that he will continue to experiment until the end of the Rugby Championship.
“At the end of the Rugby Championship‚ we will stop with these experiments and measuring of players. During the end-of-theyear tour to Europe‚ we will pick our strongest possible side every time and try to win at all costs,” said Erasmus this week.
Assistant coach Matt Proudfoot defended Erasmus this week, saying the Boks will stick to their plan. Etzebeth added that the benefits would be seen at a later stage.
“It is important to try to give the inexperienced players caps under their belts because you don’t want an undesirable situation at the World Cup where your first-choice player in any positions gets injured and you only have a guy on the bench who has only played a few games. We want to have players on the bench who would have played a number of high-profile matches and they are able to handle the pressure of the World Cup.
“Rassie is trying to do that at the moment and I understand the reasons people are impatient because the results are not coming. We want to win all the matches and recently we have failed to do that, but we will continue to try because we understand our responsibilities. People may not see the importance of what coach Rassie is doing now but they will definitely see it in the future.”
Looking back at their Rugby Championship campaign, during which the Boks won only one and lost two before yesterday’s clash with the All Blacks, Etzebeth admitted that they had disappointed the nation.
“If you lose matches, everyone feels that they have let everyone down. The coach feels he has let the players down, the players feel they have let the coach and the nation down. It is never nice to lose because we want to win all the time but sometimes it is just not possible.”
There is a long way and lots of rugby to be played before the World Cup and SA fans will need to buckle up because it is going to be a bumpy ride.
We want to win all the time but … it is just not possible Eben Etzebeth
Springbok lock forward