1
The ruck incident which kicked off Etzebeth and Itoje skirmish
By Ian Cameron
Slow motion pictures from South Africa's mauling of England during their Autumn Nations Series clash on the weekend appear to capture the moment that sparked a bit of biff between Eben Etzebeth and Maro Itoje.
The rivalry between these two world-class locks has been a talking point for several years, with the Rugby World Cup final in 2019 and last year's British & Irish Lions tour providing flash points for the simmering head-to-head, which has become one of the most entertaining sub-plots of Springboks versus England matches.
There was another flashpoint on Saturday, with the pair getting into it following a ruck in the 41st minute.
It wasn't initially clear what kicked off this incident but a frame-by-frame of the ruck appears to paint a better picture of what happened.
Etzebeth can be seen stepping over the ruck and placing his foot either directly onto Itoje or very close to him. Whether it was deliberate in a 'by accident on purpose' sort of way or if a genuine mistake from the Springbok great isn't clear.
Itoje certainly took exception to it, grabbing the South African by the leg on his past, with a bit of handbags to follow.
Another interpretation of the incident is that Itoje - who is known for his gamesmanship around the breakdown - took an opportunity to grab onto the leg of the passing Etzebeth.
While no harm was done to either side - with Angus Gardner branding a 'push and a shove' - it was an entertaining aside for fans to get stuck into online.
The giant 6'7, 118kg South African seems to be winning this personal battle at the moment, on the scoreboard at the very least. The Shark leads 4-2 in terms of Tests played between the pair since the 2019 Rugby World Cup final in Yokohama.
In truth Etzebeth's form in 2022 has been several rungs above Itoje, who hasn't quite hit the heights he's capable of this calendar year, albeit in the context of a misfiring England squad.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Wallaroos captain reflects on Black Ferns’ success with sevens stars
3
Springboks flyhalf's latest injury worry
4
Initial Immanuel Feyi-Waboso injury update does not sound promising
5
Latest Comments
In another recent article I tried to argue for a few key concept changes for EPCR which I think could light the game up in the North.
First, I can't remember who pointed out the obvious elephant in the room (a SA'n poster?), it's a terrible time to play rugby in the NH, and especially your pinnacle tournament. It's been terrible watching with seemingly all the games I wanted to watch being in the dark, hardly able to see what was going on. The Aviva was the only stadium I saw that had lights that could handle the miserable rain. If the global appeal is there, they could do a lot better having day games.
They other primary idea I thuoght would benefit EPCR most, was more content. The Prem could do with it and the Top14 could do with something more important than their own league, so they aren't under so much pressure to sell games. The quality over quantity approach.
Trim it down to two 16 team EPCR competitions, and introduce a third for playing amongst the T2 sides, or the bottom clubs in each league should simply be working on being better during the EPCR.
Champions Cup is made up of league best 15 teams, + 1, the Challenge Cup winner. Without a reason not to, I'd distribute it evenly based on each leauge, dividing into thirds and rounded up, 6 URC 5 Top14 4 English. Each winner (all four) is #1 rank and I'd have a seeding round or two for the other 12 to determine their own brackets for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I'd then hold a 6 game pool, home and away, with consecutive of each for those games that involve SA'n teams. Preferrably I'd have a regional thing were all SA'n teams were in the same pool but that's a bit complex for this simple idea.
That pool round further finalises the seeding for knockout round of 16. So #1 pool has essentially duked it out for finals seeding already (better venue planning), and to see who they go up against 16, 15,etc etc. Actually I think I might prefer a single pool round for seeding, and introduce the home and away for Ro16, quarters, and semis (stuffs up venue hire). General idea to produce the most competitive matches possible until the random knockout phase, and fix the random lottery of which two teams get ranked higher after pool play, and also keep the system identical for the Challenge Cup so everthing is succinct. Top T2 side promoted from last year to make 16 in Challenge Cup
Go to commentsBens got a crush on KLA. So cute.
Go to comments