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The Springbok Eben Etzebeth calls ‘one of the hardest men in rugby’
Eben Etzebeth branched off in an interview this week when talking about Deon Fourie to describe Springboks hooker Bongi Mbonambi as “one of the hardest men in rugby”.
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The 33-year-old Mbonambi became a pivotal part of South Africa’s successful Rugby World Cup title defence in 2023 after Malcolm Marx was ruled out due to a training ground injury following the game one pool win over Scotland in Marseille.
The Springboks opted not to call up another hooker, Jacques Nienaber instead relying on Mbonambi to shoulder the additional workload.
It left Etzebeth hugely impressed but even that heroic story about his Sharks teammate wasn’t straightforward as an injury just minutes into the final versus the All Blacks left South Africa dependent on veteran back row Fourie to pack down in the front row and also throw into the lineout.
The 37-year-old Stormers blindside emerged with flying colours, helping his team to their 12-11 Stade de France victory.
Six months later, Etzebeth has looked back on that back-to-back title win during an appearance on the latest episode of The Rugby Pod, his memory of that triumph jogged by the recent broadcasting of the latest Chasing the Sun documentary series.
“Deon’s story is incredible,” he told Pod host Jim Hamilton. “Back when he was at the Stormers, I felt personally he was a bit underrated. He was unlucky not to get a Springbok cap in the first place. He went to France to finish his career and came back to the Stormers to play a couple of matches off the bench and call it quits.
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“The Deon Fourie I knew in 2012 when I started at the Stormers, he was always a fighter. Obviously not the biggest man in the room but he has got some dog in him.
“He is a real fighter and making his debut against Wales (in 2022) and then getting selected for the World Cup, he was probably going thinking he will play against Tonga and Romania and not many more matches.
“Then Malcolm went down and the plan then was for Bongi to go 80, 80, 80 quarters, semi and final. In the final, second minute I think, he goes down. Just on Bongi, that guy is not the most skillful hooker in the world or the fastest hooker but that guy is one of the hardest men in rugby.
“He will carry with his head into a wall and he just loves scrumming and hates losing – and he almost never does. He is massive for us in that scrum department, all over the field but especially scrumming, and when he went down it was I think maybe a bit of panic under the coaches and some of the players.
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“I don’t think I can call it panic but now Deon has to step in. He actually came as a flanker and must play 77 minutes of a World Cup final against the All Blacks. Just what he did and how he stood his man, to actually come on and perform, you won’t get a better story than that in rugby.”
- Click the arrow below to listen to Eben Etzebeth on this week’s Rugby Pod
Comments on RugbyPass
Something fishy is going on here. Earlier this year Dame Patsy Reddy was threatening to step down if the review recommendations didn’t go through now it’s the professional players association going nuclear. It looks like a theft attempt by the executive and the association. Is there a big backer in the shadows? The clubs and by extension the unions own the game in NZ yet they are being told to shut up and have no say in the running of the game they have created and own. Ok let them go and do what they want but they can’t call themselves the ABs or the super or npc sides. At the end of everything this is a sport not a path to enrichment.
2 Go to commentsI would say NB that the 7 who has the skills to play as an extra half is Billy Harmon of the Highlanders. He does everything expected of an openside with ruck, tackle and run but he has a good pass. Robertson might of opted for Christie at the Crusaders moving Harmon on but that allowed him to break out of the Crusaders system and show his full range of skills.
54 Go to commentsHe is right. How do you pick the two? Ospreys and Cardiff?
2 Go to commentsSam like many had passed their use by dates and that is down to the selectors, not the player. I wasn't a Sam fan, but he didn’t deserve Bidwells brutally honest opinion. Could have been more diplomatic.
3 Go to commentsNice piece nick, mcreight is immense. Just like hooper, he seems to be indefatigable and sprint the full 80 from one involvement to the next. Like DuPont, its like they can see an extra phase ahead which means they know where to be before everyone else. His support and link play for mine is his real point of difference, and now he is lifting the other areas up as well. One key improvement is when to jackal or not, he used to go for everything and get pinged or stuck in the ruck. His decision making in this area has really improved. He seems to be quite competitive, and like faz not afraid to chew out a teammate. If he went down, both the reds and wallabies would be in trouble. I’d lean towards Wright or Wilkin/Gamble I think, I don’t think many of the other candidates have the work rate or ruck presence that is needed of a 7. Interestingly, the reds lineout fell apart on the weekend without faessler, although the maul still functioned. The heat seemed to affect their decision making, I think they needed to adjust to a low possession, simple game plan but they went head strong with a high possession game even though they couldn’t hold onto it, secure their ruck or their set piece…
54 Go to commentsExpecting those provincial fish-heads to vote themselves out of power is like expecting turkeys to vote for Christmas. Good luck with that!
2 Go to commentsA brilliant winger..
1 Go to commentsGood player, but how could anyone have filled RMCs shoes.? Also, I hope Razor implements better & indeed more legal tackling, the AB’s concede way too many cards. Looking forward to the new regime though.
10 Go to commentsGood article, NB. I’ve quite liked the speed and skill levels of Tom Ahern from Munster. I read he was a fullback until late in schools rugby and suddenly shot up to 6 foot 9. Another guy born in 2000 who seems to be able to play out in trams on both sides of the ball is Juan Martin Gonzalez of Saracens. Thanks for the article.
54 Go to commentsShould not even be in the thought to bring Barrett back,the team is going well and remember 2 season ago when the blues were going well & got out thought & out played in the final all Barrett did was needlessly kick away posession again and again, pass to players in worse positions as to avoid contact and for the Blues and AB proved costly in crucial games.
3 Go to commentsBarbarians will be preparing for fiji starting end of this week but fiji will be preparing only 1 week b4 the game…..so unfair
1 Go to commentsI believe it was the Wallaby Nick White who opened the floodgates - earning his team a yellow card against SA and getting Faf binned for 10. Nick White. The original soft pr1ck, diving git. Owen Farrell is growing on me.
2 Go to commentsTo be honest this result was not that seismic as shock, Canada are a very good team and very few teams fear the Black Ferns anymore. The rankings give a good picture, the top four ranked teams are the top four teams in women’s rugby with England ahead the other three can exchange places at any given time. Despite the USA result I still think Australia are ahead of the rest. WXV will show how big the gap is between nations.
9 Go to commentsFarrell playing in France next season better get use to play acting .
3 Go to commentsNot sure I see the magic. Solid flanker but the aggression and lack of bending at the hips leads to boo boos
10 Go to comments100%. Thank you, Andy.
2 Go to commentsFabulous player. Don’t know if people outside of Ireland appreciate his vision and genius. I wish he got more time with the National team. We will never know how high he could have soared. Super season to end with!
1 Go to commentsIf he's playing well enough to be in the top 2 or 3 open sides, then pick him. Essentially nothing else should come into it.
1 Go to commentsBe really surprised if Beale is considered for a WB squad, let alone a match day 23. Feel there are too many younger players in all positions in the backline now who should be developed. These upcoming games this year should be used to develop the players of the future, for building towards next RWC.
2 Go to commentsI think this all came from Fozzie immediately anointing Cane as captain when he became coach, well ahead of when any team was to be named. Then he seemingly felt unable to retract the captaincy as that would have been an admission he was wrong initially. Sam Cane was a good AB and a good captain. Through his injuries and some loss of form he maybe didn't deserve selection but Fozzie couldn't ever make that hard call which led to Cane copping it.
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