Springboks: Eben Etzebeth ‘doing it for his dad’

Mzwandile Stick says Eben Etzebeth will be playing to honour his late father when the Springboks face the All Blacks at Mount Smart Stadium on Saturday.

Harry Etzebeth died on Tuesday, casting doubt over whether Etzebeth would play in the Rugby Championship showdown in Auckland on Saturday or return home to support his family.

However, Etzebeth took part in the captain’s run earlier on Friday and it was confirmed that he had made the decision to play.

“Eben’s loss is our loss,” said Stick. “We are a family. It is very, very sad. Condolences to him and his family. We are with him.

“That’s one thing about us as a team, we are always there for each other in tough times. In our camp, we also lost Jaden’s [Hendrikse] dad, just before we left South Africa. As a team, we are always there to support the guys.

“We’ve done everything that we can to make sure that we are there for Eben. That’s also the reason he is playing. He made the choice to play. I would like to think he is going it for his dad. We are 100% behind him to support him as a team.”

Stick said that despite the tragic loss, it has been business as usual for the Springboks this week, as they have stayed focused on preparing for a decisive Rugby Championship clash against the All Blacks.

“Since we got here we have prepared as we always do. We knew it was going to be a tough task to play against the All Blacks away from home. With Eben’s loss, we just want to be there for him.

“The gentleman made a decision, he probably wants to honour his dad with this game, and you can’t ask for any better game than playing against the All Blacks. It will be very special with what he is going through. As a team, we just want to be there. We are sad with him, we are a family. We always try to make sure we perform as close to our best as we can.”