{"id":73040,"date":"2024-08-28T17:04:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T17:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eben-etzebeth-cleared-for-all-blacks-test-as-boks-release-four-players"},"modified":"2024-08-28T17:04:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T17:04:00","slug":"eben-etzebeth-cleared-for-all-blacks-test-as-boks-release-four-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eben-etzebeth-cleared-for-all-blacks-test-as-boks-release-four-players","title":{"rendered":"Eben Etzebeth cleared for All Blacks Test as Boks release four players"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth has been cleared to face the All Blacks in their crucial Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park on Saturday after completing all the training sessions this week, and has been drafted onto the replacements bench.<\/p>\n

Coach Rassie Erasmus on Wednesday also released four players \u2014 Steven Kitshoff, flyhalf Manie Libbok and wings Canan Moodie and Makazole Mapimpi \u2014 to their Currie Cup teams to get some valuable game time this weekend.<\/p>\n

Etzebeth, who was initially excluded from the Boks\u2019 match-23 for the first of two Tests against their southern hemisphere arch-rivals due to an injury concern earlier in the week, replaces Marco van Staden on the bench. That offers the team specialist lock cover for the starting combination of Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ruan Nortje.<\/p>\n

Should he get game time, Etzebeth will be fielded in his 125th Test in the green and gold jersey. This will see him leapfrog Bryan Habana as the second most-capped Springbok and take one step closer to Victor Matfield\u2019s Springbok Test record of 127 caps.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur selection policy has always been that if a player does not train on a Monday he will not play on Saturday, but Eben has made it through training pain-free all week, so we had to make the tough call to name him in the squad at the expense of Marco,\u201d Erasmus said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were backup options for us at lock in the initial squad, but with Eben on the bench, it means we have another specialist in that position. We\u2019re blessed to have an expanded squad of about 45 players who have all bought into our plans, and who understand what\u2019s best for the team. And it\u2019s admirable how Marco accepted the news. It shows the quality of the player and person he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Revised Springbok team to face New Zealand at Ellis Park:<\/b>15 \u2014 Aphelele Fassi (Sharks) \u2014 6 caps, 15 points (3t)<\/p>\n

14 \u2014 Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) \u2014 35 caps, 96 points (15t, 3c, 5p)<\/p>\n

13 \u2014 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) \u2014 73 caps, 80 points (16t)<\/p>\n

12 \u2014 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) \u2014 82 caps, 55 points (11t)<\/p>\n

11 \u2014 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls) \u2014 19 caps, 85 points (17t)<\/p>\n

10 \u2014 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers) \u2014 6 caps, 33 points (12c, 3p)<\/p>\n

9 \u2014 Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) \u2014 34 caps, 65 points (13t)<\/p>\n

8 \u2014 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) \u2014 27 caps, 5 points (1t)<\/p>\n

7 \u2014 Ben-Jason Dixon (Stormers) \u2014 3 caps, 5 points (1t)<\/p>\n

6 \u2014 Siya Kolisi (captain, Racing 92) \u2014 86 caps, 55 points (11t)<\/p>\n

5 \u2014 Ruan Nortje (Bulls) \u2014 2 caps, 0 points<\/p>\n

4 \u2014 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) \u2014 81 caps, 45 points (9t)<\/p>\n

3 \u2014 Frans Malherbe (Stormers) \u2014 73 caps, 5 points (1t)<\/p>\n

2 \u2014 Bongi Mbonambi (Sharks) \u2014 72 caps, 70 points (14t)<\/p>\n

1 \u2014 Ox Nche (Sharks) \u2014 33 caps, 0 points<\/p>\n

Replacements:<\/b><\/p>\n

16 \u2014 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) \u2014 69 caps, 95 points (19t)<\/p>\n

17 \u2014 Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls) \u2014 4 caps, 0 points<\/p>\n

18 \u2014 Vincent Koch (Sharks) \u2014 54 caps, 0 points<\/p>\n

19 \u2014 Eben Etzebeth (Sharks) \u2014 124 caps, 30 points (6t)<\/p>\n

20 \u2014 Elrigh Louw (Bulls) \u2014 6 caps, 0 points<\/p>\n

21 \u2014 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) \u2014 45 caps, 40 points (8t)<\/p>\n

22 \u2014 Grant Williams (Sharks) \u2014 13 caps, 10 points (2t)<\/p>\n

23 \u2014 Handre\u0301 Pollard (Leicester Tigers) \u2014 73 caps, 734 points (7t, 99c, 162p, 5dg)<\/p>\n

SA Rugby<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth has been cleared to face the All Blacks in their crucial Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park on Saturday after completing all the training sessions this week, and has been drafted onto the replacements bench. Coach Rassie Erasmus on Wednesday also released four players \u2014 Steven Kitshoff, flyhalf […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":73039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-73040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nEben Etzebeth cleared for All Blacks Test as Boks release four players - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eben-etzebeth-cleared-for-all-blacks-test-as-boks-release-four-players\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eben Etzebeth cleared for All Blacks Test as Boks release four players\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – South-Africa. Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth has been cleared to face the All Blacks in their crucial Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park on Saturday after completing all the training sessions this week, and has been drafted onto the replacements bench. 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