What can we learn from the three seasons spent at the RCT by Eben Etzebeth? His salary, but above all his services are dull to say the least…
He was one of the last, if not the last except Cheslin Kolbe, world star to be recruited by the RCT. In any case, the last of the Boudjellal era. Former president of Toulon who had no equal in convincing the greatest rugby players (Umaga, Wilkinson, Botha, Gregan, Matfield, Giteau, etc.), Mourad Boudjellal had sought several times to bring in the Springbok second row. Without success.
And then, one evening in November 2018, he saw a shooting window. The Springboks came to face France at the Stade de France. An agent then contacted him to inform him of the player’s desire to come and play in the Top 14, after the 2019 World Cup. A TGV shot and Boudjellal met Etzebeth the next day. In two weeks the matter was over. The result is a very nice contract (more than 800,000 euros gross per year), but also a new resounding blow for Boudjellal, in terms of transfers.
His coming to France will therefore be an excellent financial deal for Etzebeth (who will extend his contract upwards in 2020), less from a sporting point of view. He will never enter the hearts of RCT fans. He will have neither the aura of a Bakkies Botha, nor the performances of a Victor Matfield. He will give the impression, during the three seasons in which he wore the Toulon jersey and his 40 appearances, of managing himself more often than not. “I regret that he only shows his best face with the Springboks. In Toulon, he is always a little injured, concussed and in the end, never plays… Obviously, he was not made for France. It’s disappointing . I love Eben, I repeat, but you can’t tell when you arrive in Toulon. “I want to be champion of France!” and leave some time later without having left their mark on the club in one way or another…”will say by way of assessment Bakkies Botha in our columns. Criticisms which will have a big impact in South Africa and real consequences. Two years before the end of his lucrative contract, Etzebeth will ask to be released to return to South Africa. Toulon will do nothing to stop it…
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