{"id":585948,"date":"2026-08-31T14:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T14:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/585948\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T14:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T14:34:17","slug":"victor-matfield-he-showed-why-hes-probably-the-best-springbok-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/585948\/","title":{"rendered":"Victor Matfield: ‘He showed why he’s probably the best Springbok of all time’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published: 4 hours ago | 31 August 2026 05:39 EDT <\/p>\n

mens<\/p>\n

international<\/p>\n

South African players watch as New Zealand players perform the Haka during the second Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry international rugby union match between South Africa and New Zealand at the Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town, on August 29, 2026. (Photo by Rodger Bosch \/ AFP) \"Google <\/a> <\/p>\n

Former South Africa<\/a> captain Victor Matfield has hailed Eben Etzebeth as \u201cprobably the best Springbok of all time\u201d after the veteran lock produced a towering response to the pressure surrounding his form in Saturday\u2019s series-levelling 33-26 victory over the All Blacks<\/a> in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old racked up a match-leading 18 tackles, two of which were dominant, as the world champions levelled the series with the All Blacks, but perhaps his work at the lineout was his most decisive contribution, as he terrorised the visitors\u2019 throw at the front of the lineout.<\/p>\n

Matfield, who saw his record as the Springboks\u2019 oldest-ever player overtaken by Deon Fourie at the weekend, said Etzebeth \u2013 who also surpassed him as the most-capped Bok in 2024 \u2013 was \u201cunder pressure\u201d leading into the match, but \u201cstood out\u201d in his Rugby Rivals<\/a> podcast this week.<\/p>\n

A combination of his infamous gouging ban followed by a hip injury on his return to action for the Sharks<\/a> in April has meant the 144-cap lock has only played a handful of matches in 2026. Moreover, he was not at his imperious best in the loss to the All Blacks in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n

But the veteran has shaken off any rust, playing the full 80 minutes in Cape Town, while Ruan Nortje \u2013 who has established himself as the Boks\u2019 80-minute man over the past year \u2013 was taken off in the final quarter instead.<\/p>\n

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South Africa <\/p>\n

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New Zealand <\/p>\n

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\u201cI think we had to mention Eben,\u201d Matfield said. \u201cI mean, at lineout time he was outstanding. He was also under pressure in South Africa, he hasn\u2019t played a lot. He\u2019s not in great form. But I think he stood out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, at lineout time he was fantastic. His work rate was just unbelievable, and that\u2019s the Eben we know.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I think for me it was important that our most experienced player, in a week like this where there was a lot of pressure, he stood up and he just showed why he\u2019s probably the best Springbok of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published: 4 hours ago | 31 August 2026 05:39 EDT mens international South African players watch as New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-585948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}