{"id":784516,"date":"2026-09-27T18:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T18:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/784516\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T18:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T18:38:15","slug":"springboks-address-eben-etzebeth-sideline-kerfuffle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/784516\/","title":{"rendered":"Springboks address Eben Etzebeth sideline kerfuffle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>  Published: 4 hours ago | 27 September 2026 10:00 EDT  <br \/> Updated: 4 hours ago | 27 September 2026 10:02 EDT  <\/p>\n<p>mens<\/p>\n<p>international<\/p>\n<p>    PERTH, AUSTRALIA &#8211; SEPTEMBER 27: Eben Etzebeth of the Springboks reacts after a Wallabies try during the Rugby Championship match between Australia Wallabies and South Africa Springboks at Optus Stadium on September 27, 2026 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by James Worsfold\/Getty Images) <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"expand\" src=\"https:\/\/eu-cdn.rugbypass.com\/images\/common-svg\/select-arrow.svg\" height=\"6\" width=\"11\"\/>      <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rugbypass.com%2F\" onclick=\"GATracking.sendDataLayerEvent(&#039;preferredsourcegoogle&#039;);\" aria-label=\"Google Prefered Source\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790534295_235_google_preferred_source_badge_light.png\" alt=\"Google Prefered Source\" width=\"141\" height=\"44\" class=\"google-source\"\/> <\/a>     <\/p>\n<p>Springbok boss Rassie Erasmus has sought to clarify the confusion surrounding Eben Etzebeth\u2019s second-half departure during South Africa\u2019s dramatic 42-38 defeat to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/australia\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Australia<\/a> in Perth.<\/p>\n<p>Les Kiss\u2019 Wallabies held on for a remarkable victory at Optus Stadium on Sunday, clinching the Mandela Challenge Plate and extending their unbeaten run in 2026 after surviving a frantic finish despite being reduced to 11 players at one stage.<\/p>\n<p>The match also featured a puzzling sequence involving veteran lock Etzebeth, who left the field in the second half before briefly returning and then departing again later in the contest.<\/p>\n<p>Etzebeth appeared to go off for what many believed was a head injury assessment after 64 minutes. The Springbok enforcer returned three minutes later, with his initial return appearing to be challenged by a medic attendant on the side of the field.<\/p>\n<p>He then left the field again in the closing stages as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/south-africa\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">South Africa<\/a> chased a winning score.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking after the match, Erasmus admitted there had been uncertainty around the nature of the injury and suggested it provided a learning opportunity for all parties involved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, he had a shot against the neck and I thought he was going for HIA. We don\u2019t control that from a coach\u2019s box, what he\u2019s going for,\u201d Erasmus told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo when the doctor told me he got a knock against the neck, I thought he was going for HIA, and I think that\u2019s where the confusion is.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think he wasn\u2019t marked as HIA; he was marked as injured. Then, obviously, you can\u2019t put another player on. So there\u2019s also a learning there for the match officials, the fourth and fifth official, and for us, to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the confusion, Erasmus said the towering second row had escaped serious injury.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut he pulled through. He\u2019s a bit stiff and sore in the change room now, but luckily I don\u2019t think there\u2019s big damage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published: 4 hours ago | 27 September 2026 10:00 EDT Updated: 4 hours ago | 27 September 2026&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-784516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}