'Can only live off reputation for so long': Ex-Bok coach questions Eben Etzebeth's place in side

Springboks lock Eben Etzebeth is under pressure to retain his place in the top Springbok side after a long stint of the sidelines according to former Springbok coach Nick Mallett.

The 34-year-old hasn’t played a Test since November after being suspended for 12 weeks following a melee against Wales. The lock was named to play against England but was a late withdrawal before missing all three Tests, while he missed significant time with the Sharks during the URC season.

Mallett said there were question marks over whether Etzebeth can get through the training required to be play against Argentina ahead of the Greatest Rivalry tour with the All Blacks.

“A guy like Eben Etzebeth has taken such a long time to get back into the mix,” Mallett on the Talking Boks podcast.

“So you’ve got to have a question mark as to whether one game against Argentina and some really intense alignment camps are going to be enough for him to go straight into an All Blacks Test.

“Rassie [Erasmus] will answer that question. He said you never perform well if you aren’t physically able to handle a hard training week and then play on Saturday. So this Argentina game is massive for a number of our players.”

Etzebeth wasn’t the only big name Bok to miss the Nations Championship fixtures in July, with inspirational figurehead Siya Kolisi also battling injury.

The ex-Bok coach said that all the players coming back “had to perform” and “couldn’t live off reputation” to make this Springboks side.

“You can only live on reputation for so long. You’ve actually got to perform,” Mallett added. “The players who’ve played over the last three weekends have all performed well.

“So the guys coming back from injury know this Argentina game is a very, very important one for them.”

In Etzebeth’s absence South Africa used Pieter-Steph du Toit as a lock, Ruan Nortje, Cobus Wiese, and Ruben van Heerden while in the back row one of the star performers was newcomer Paul de Villers.

Injury doubts still persist over Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Lood de Jager, Franco Mostert, André Esterhuizen and Morné van den Berg.

In the case of star flyhalf Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Erasmus had commented they are trying to get him ready to go against Argentina despite only being two months into an expected three month layoff.