In the second of a six-part series, SA Rugby magazine’s writers pick their world team of the year, based on performances throughout 2022.
Devin Hermanus
Unfairly snubbed in World Rugby’s 2022 Men’s Team of the Year, Eben Etzebeth fully deserved to be honoured back home in Cape Town when he celebrated becoming the seventh player to earn his 100th Springbok Test cap in 2022. The formidable enforcer was head and shoulders the best lock on the planet after delivering monstrous performances for club and country throughout the year.
More understated in his achievements, the reliable Lood de Jager dovetailed nicely with Etzebeth in the Bok second row. The towering No 5 left nothing in the tank against Wales in July and in the Rugby Championship, and was primed to dominate France and England on the November tour before he was ruled out due to injury.
Ollie Keohane
Eben Etzebeth, who played his 100th cap for the Springboks in 2022, was in the form of his life, and a force unmatched in every international game he featured in. The most capped Bok in the current squad, Etzebeth is the backbone of a Bok pack that has dominated both hemispheres.
At this stage, one would think Sam Whitelock is just hanging on – he’s 34 years old and has 143 Test caps. But this is not the case. In 2022, vintage Whitelock performances played an enormous role in leading a struggling All Blacks side back towards winning ways. He played as if he were 10 years younger but led a youthful squad with the measured maturity that his Test experience allows.
Simon Borchardt
James Ryan led the Ireland pack’s physical assault on the All Blacks in July and has become an excellent lineout operator who makes the calls.
Eben Etzebeth was colossal for the Boks in all 13 of their Tests, but saved his best for last, against England at Twickenham. He scored a try and made some brutal tackles in a performance that made a mockery of his omission from World Rugby’s Dream Team.
Zelím Nel
If you drill down to the foundation, South Africa’s success starts with the tight five and, as with my front-row selections, I’ve consequently gone for an all-Bok combo in the second row.
Eben Etzebeth became a Test centurion in 2022 and he seems to have saved his best for last. Where the wild-eyed enforcer was once renowned for using his 10-inch hands to drag adversaries in for an eyeball inspection, Etzebeth in 2022 shovelled those burning coals into the furnace to keep the Bok pack steaming ahead.
In a fire-and-ice combination with Etzebeth, Lood de Jager ran South Africa’s lineout and made a considerable impact at the attacking breakdown in nine Tests before the 29-year-old went down with a shoulder injury that cut short his November tour.
Dylan Jack
I have opted for an all-Saffa second row, to complete a near all-Springbok tight five. Lood de Jager returned to form in 2022, after a horrendous run of injuries since helping the Springboks win the 2019 World Cup. De Jager played in nine out of 13 Tests, but for a shoulder injury against Ireland in Dublin, he could have played in 12. He was at his imperious best at the lineout and powerful when carrying the ball.
How Eben Etzebeth was not nominated for World Player of the Year, only World Rugby will know. He was not only the best lock in the world over the calendar year, but was comfortably among the best-performing players.
Photo: Getty Images
