Never in my wildest dreams would I have envisioned Eben Etzebeth exiting the tunnel first for the Springboks.
Yet that’s what happened against France at Ellis Park on Saturday.
With regular skipper and No.8 Warren Whiteley ruled out of the clash on Friday with a groin injury, my choice for captain would have been Siya Kolisi.
And I can only imagine how excited fans would have been at the thought of having Kolisi to lead the side.
The opportunity was there for the Springboks to have their first ever black captain in a Test match.
I know Chiliboy Ralepelle once captained an SA side against the World XV a few years back. But that wasn’t in a Test match.
And with Kolisi having starred in Durban the week before, I think the decision makers made a mistake by not letting him lead the team out at Ellis Park.
What a momentous occasion that would have been.
I’m pretty sure the thought crossed the mind of Allister Coetzee and his selectors – especially because Kolisi is Etzebeth’s senior at
franchise level.
Kolisi, though, as humble as they come, probably just wanted to focus on his game and to give his best for Mzansi in an effort to cement his place in the side of the scrum.
Still, he was the main man – especially in that first half, talking to his peers when things went wrong.
Etzebeth, to me, is not a captain – a leader yes, but not a captain.
I’ve said it before.
He is the enforcer type. The one player in the team that has to be allowed to get his hands dirty. You need them.
He is also the player that has to push the boundaries and perhaps even take a few minutes in the sin bin if it is to the benefit of the team.
Still, he did well on the day, but the Boks missed Whiteley in the match, especially when it came down to the lineouts.
Now I’m not sure who was responsible for calling the shots at this set piece on Saturday, but the team was clearly not on the same page.
Still, it’s back to Super Rugby this weekend and Kolisi has yet another chance to show that he is the leader of the future when the Stormers tackle the Cheetahs on Saturday.
Whiteley should be the Bok captain going forward.
But in Kolisi, Coetzee has a leader that truly leads from the front and his performances in the series against France have proven that he is a must in the starting XV.
So while it’s still Whiteley that will lead the squad for now, I’m sure we’ll see Siya exiting the tunnel first in the Green and Gold in the near-future.