Bok locks: Red-hot Lood could yet match Eben’s ‘100’

 Sport24 chief writer

There was a rightful, heavy emphasis on Eben Etzebeth’s majestic ascension to 100 Test caps for the Springboks during the recent home series against Wales.

But as Etzebeth deepens his lock alliance with Lood de Jager, the last-named player’s dynamic own brand of rugby in the three-Test series served up a quiet reminder that he, too, could yet reach the coveted – and currently seven-strong – club of ton-up Boks.

The lanky De Jager moved to 58 appearances against the Welsh, having been involved in two (both host-nation wins) of the three clashes and producing high-calibre rugby at both Loftus and Cape Town Stadium – he was unquestionably in the elite bracket among best-performing Boks in the series, as acknowledged by many scribes.

De Jager sat out only the second tussle in Bloemfontein, where Marvin Orie earned a start at No 5 in a much-debated, experimental line-up and Bulls rookie Ruan Nortje earned a maiden cap off the bench during the second half.

But count it as a betting certainty, unless misfortune strikes in the interim, that the booming Etzebeth-De Jager partnership will be the first-choice lock selection – a pattern prevalent for several years now – for game one of the Rugby Championship against New Zealand at Mbombela on Saturday week (6 August).

Despite SA’s healthy depth in second-row resources, those two are presently a clear step ahead of other contenders.

The duo are fast becoming as household a partnership as the famous Victor Matfield-Bakkies Botha union of years gone by.

Their first start together came against Argentina at Salta in August 2014: a heartstopper of a match eventually won 33-31 by the Boks, after De Jager had earned earlier Test starts with each of Matfield (v Scotland,