In the pages of his tell-all autobiography "Unlocked", Eben Etzebeth, the towering Springbok lock, spills the beans on the leadership lapses and the lax discipline that once threatened to derail his early international career. This giant of South African rugby, now aged 33, takes us back to his younger days when the gloss on his heroes started to fade.
It all began to unravel during a tense 2014 end-of-year tour. Fresh-faced and eager at 23, Etzebeth watched in dismay as the senior players he had once revered stumbled. "It was a strange time for me, because I had looked up to those senior players since I was a kid, and they could do no wrong in my eyes," he reveals. The cracks showed clearly after a narrow win against England at Twickenham, where backstage indiscipline started to surface. "Some senior players turned up late for a meeting and another was late for the jersey handover on Friday," Etzebeth recounts in his book.
"[Coach] Heyneke [Meyer] was furious the following week and told the senior players he wanted nothing to do with them. He basically withdrew his services for the match against Italy and handed the reins over to [assistant coach] Johann van Graan."
The saga didn't end there. By 2016, under coach Allister Coetzee, things seemed to have gone from bad to worse. Etzebeth paints a picture of a team where discipline was tossed out of the window, particularly before a crucial match against the All Blacks in Durban. "The discipline in the group was not very good and some guys on the fringes of the starting team decided it was a good idea to go partying just a few days before our match," he writes, noting how this negligence contributed to a humiliating 57-15 defeat.
"When supporters boo you, it shows they care, while silence means they have no hope for you."
Post-match behaviors didn't help either, with some players hitting the town immediately after their crushing defeat. "A few guys who went out drinking before the game came back after the game and went out partying," Etzebeth laments, highlighting a lack of remorse that gnawed at him.
This stark narrative not only offers a window into the challenges faced by Etzebeth but also underlines the pivotal role of leadership and discipline in the world of international rugby. As the Bok lock reflects on these testing times, it’s clear that the trials of the past have only fortified his resolve and commitment to the game.
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In the pages of his tell-all autobiography "Unlocked", Eben Etzebeth, the towering Springbok lock, spills the beans on the leadership lapses and the lax discipline that once threatened to derail his early international career. This giant of South African rugby, now aged 33, takes us back to his younger days when the gloss on his heroes started to fade.
It all began to unravel during a tense 2014 end-of-year tour. Fresh-faced and eager at 23, Etzebeth watched in dismay as the senior players he had once revered stumbled. "It was a strange time for me, because I had looked up to those senior players since I was a kid, and they could do no wrong in my eyes," he reveals. The cracks showed clearly after a narrow win against England at Twickenham, where backstage indiscipline started to surface. "Some senior players turned up late for a meeting and another was late for the jersey handover on Friday," Etzebeth recounts in his book.
"[Coach] Heyneke [Meyer] was furious the following week and told the senior players he wanted nothing to do with them. He basically withdrew his services for the match against Italy and handed the reins over to [assistant coach] Johann van Graan."
The saga didn't end there. By 2016, under coach Allister Coetzee, things seemed to have gone from bad to worse. Etzebeth paints a picture of a team where discipline was tossed out of the window, particularly before a crucial match against the All Blacks in Durban. "The discipline in the group was not very good and some guys on the fringes of the starting team decided it was a good idea to go partying just a few days before our match," he writes, noting how this negligence contributed to a humiliating 57-15 defeat.
"When supporters boo you, it shows they care, while silence means they have no hope for you."
Post-match behaviors didn't help either, with some players hitting the town immediately after their crushing defeat. "A few guys who went out drinking before the game came back after the game and went out partying," Etzebeth laments, highlighting a lack of remorse that gnawed at him.
This stark narrative not only offers a window into the challenges faced by Etzebeth but also underlines the pivotal role of leadership and discipline in the world of international rugby. As the Bok lock reflects on these testing times, it’s clear that the trials of the past have only fortified his resolve and commitment to the game.