Eben Etzebeth stood the tallest and roared the loudest in north London as the Sharks won the Challenge Cup.
The Springboks giant, who had labelled the match the biggest of his club career, provided context to that statement, given he had played in some bruising and big club matches for the Stormers and Toulon.
This was the biggest in that it was the most significant for the Sharks since South Africa’s move to the northern hemisphere.
The Sharks, with just four wins from 17 matches in the United Rugby Championship (URC), had to salvage their season with a title in the Challenge Cup. Victory would also give the Sharks automatic entry into the more prestigious top tier Champions Cup for next season.
Etzebeth, leading the Sharks in Lukanyo Am’s absence due to injury, produced an individual performance every bit as imposing as he did for the Springboks during the 2023 Rugby World Cup play-offs. He was immense defensively, at set piece, in attitude and in his communication with the match officials.
There was an early try-saving tackle as the Sharks absorbed 10 minutes of Gloucester’s attack, despite playing 14 on 15. Gloucester had just the 10 opening minutes in them and once Etzebeth and his Sharks had suppressed this passion and anger, they then suffocated Gloucester in what was a torturous hour between the 10th and 70th minutes.
The Shark, in those 60 minutes, scored 36 points to lead 36-10.
He was immense defensively, at set piece, in attitude and in his communication with the match officials
Etzebeth, on average this season, has played 56 minutes a game for the Sharks. He went 82 minutes in the final, from the opening to the closing minutes. Nothing and no one was going to remove him until the final whistle.
Etzebeth’s 2023 World Cup-winning mates in the tight five were as imposing at the set piece. Loosehead prop Ox Nche, hooker Bongi Mbonambi and tighthead prop Vincent Koch destroyed Gloucester’s scrum, winning four penalties from the first four scrums and six scrum penalties in the 70 minutes they played.
The trio, who ordinarily play between 40 and 50 minutes, only left as a collective on 70 minutes when the trophy engraving started.
Gloucester were physically inferior and always second in the collisions. They are a side who finished ninth out of 10 in England’s Premiership, with just five wins from 18 matches. Context is a must.
The hour of absolute Sharks dominance is what one expects when one tight five has four World Cup-winning players and the other has five brave but hopelessly outclassed plodders parading as a tight five.
The scrum, a South African weapon, was once again crucial to the outcome. It remains rugby bliss to see a powerful set piece crush the opposition.
Etzebeth — who spoke of the dark days in the Sharks set-up a few months ago when the team had won just one from 11 URC matches — applauded the desire of each player to win the title. Desire is one thing that can’t be coached, and desire speaks to the character of any team.
It was this desire, from numbers one to 23, that was the encouraging sight for Sharks supporters, and it is this desire that must be present in next weekend’s final URC league match against the Bulls in Durban.
The 2007 World Cup-winning Springboks captain John Smit wrote on X: “No scrum; no title.”
Equally, no goalkicker and no guarantee of a win and a title. The Sharks flyhalf Siya Masuku kicked eight from eight in the final and seven from seven in the semifinal win against France’s Clermont.
Masuku’s five penalty strikes ensured the Sharks set piece supremacy was reflected with scoreboard reward. His general play was as good as his goalkicking, as he continued to kick at the door of Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus for the one-off Test against Wales at Twickenham in June.
• World Cup-winning No 10s Handre Pollard and Manie Libbok may be unavailable for selection because the Test is outside the international window, and because of the URC play-offs.
