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Inspirational Etzebeth rewarded by Coetzee ahead of European tour
By Peter Thompson
Eben Etzebeth will continue to captain South Africa after Warren Whiteley was ruled out of the upcoming upcoming tour of the Northern Hemisphere.
Etzebeth took over as skipper when Whiteley sustained a groin injury during the Test series victory over France in June.
Whiteley was expected to be fit to travel to Europe, but the number eight will not be ready in time for the Tests against Ireland, France, Italy and Wales in November and December.
Etzebeth has been an inspiration since being installed as stand-in captain and the towering lock will continue to lead his country out.
Springboks head coach Allister Coetzee said: "Eben has really taken to his role as captain of the Springboks and it makes sense to retain him. I know he is well respected by talking to opposition coaches and referees, and he enjoys the respect of his peers.
"With Eben at the helm for the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour, we are looking forward to continue our process of building continuity, cohesion and experience within this team as we also start to build towards the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan."
Prop Coenie Oosthuizen (fractured arm) and loose forward Uzair Cassiem (rib) will be available to tour, but number eight Duane Vermeulen will not be in the squad after undergoing a groin operation.
Flanker Jaco Kriel (shoulder) and Frans Malherbe (neck) are also unavailable.
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Latest Comments
"fl's idea, if I can speak for him to speed things up, was for it to be semifinalists first, Champions Cup (any that somehow didn't make a league semi), then Challenge's semi finalists (which would most certainly have been outside their league semi's you'd think), then perhaps the quarter finalists of each in the same manner. I don't think he was suggesting whoever next performed best in Europe but didn't make those knockouts (like those round of 16 losers), I doubt that would ever happen."
That's not quite my idea.
For a 20 team champions cup I'd have 4 teams qualify from the previous years champions cup, and 4 from the previous years challenge cup. For a 16 team champions cup I'd have 3 teams qualify from the previous years champions cup, and 1 from the previous years challenge cup.
"The problem I mainly saw with his idea (much the same as you see, that league finish is a better indicator) is that you could have one of the best candidates lose in the quarters to the eventual champions, and so miss out for someone who got an easier ride, and also finished lower in the league, perhaps in their own league, and who you beat everytime."
If teams get a tough draw in the challenge cup quarters, they should have won more pool games and so got better seeding. My system is less about finding the best teams, and more about finding the teams who perform at the highest level in european competition.
Go to commentsWalter has been permanently psychologically damaged since his wife left him and moved in with a man from Sydney.
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