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Springboks second row Eben Etzebeth has extended his contract at Toulon

By Online Editors

24 Jul 2020

(Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Springboks second row Eben Etzebeth has extended his contract at Toulon, the Top 14 club he arrived at last November on a two-year deal following South Africa’s 2019 World Cup triumph in Japan.

The 28-year-old second row, who has won 85 caps since making his debut versus England in 2012, has now extended his deal in France through to 2024, one year less than the contract extension agreed with Patrice Collazo, the club’s head coach who will be at Toulon until at least 2025.

Etzebeth told the Toulon Rugby Club TV: “I was planning on coming for two years but I will be staying longer. It’s nice to settle down in a place, find your feet. Toulon is a place where I can do that. Nice by the ocean, great weather, great people.”

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Etzebeth played just five Top 14 matches for Toulon since joining from the Stormers, along with three further appearances in the European Challenge Cup before the 2019/20 rugby season was halted due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The delayed Challenge Cup will resume on September 19 with Toulon hosting Scarlets at Mayol. However, French rugby officials opted to scrap the 2019/20 Top 14 campaign and will instead start the new 2020/21 season on a weekend where Toulon visit La Rochelle on September 5.

???????? ?'?????? ???? ?? ?????? ?
??@EbenEtzebeth?2?0?2?4?
??Patrice Collazo ?2?0?2?5?#RCTFamily #NousSommesToulon https://t.co/WhnO20Vddj
— RCT – RC Toulon (@RCTofficiel) July 23, 2020

The Toulon extension for Etzebeth highlights the influence he has at the club despite only being there a short time. He was one of Toulon’s big signings last summer alongside the likes of Baptiste Serin and Sergio Parisse and they have been given the responsibility of helping the club return to the top table after languishing the past few years.

Now back in France, Etzebeth spent much of the recent lockdown in Cape Town after securing permission from Toulon in April to hunker down in South Africa.

The club had initially wanted him to stay in Europe as the 2019/20 season had yet to be cancelled and they were worried about any travel restrictions affecting the availability of their overseas contingent. However, Toulon eventually relented to the repeated requests from Etzebeth to go home and he was allowed to do so.

What will be interesting next, though, is whether Etzebeth will receive clearance to take part fully in the Rugby Championship which is set to held in New Zealand next November and December.

League officials in France are unhappy with the length of the Test window recommended this week by World Rugby and have suggested they might play hardball regarding regulation nine governing the release of players for international matches.

Tensions rising in France https://t.co/kumY4Dt8NA
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 23, 2020

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Comments on RugbyPass

JW 16 minutes ago

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Let's hope so, that was a fantastic game.

11 Go to comments

JW 17 minutes ago

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Lol tell that to Rassie.

I was going through the Prems 10s yesterday though and the star ones did play the full 80 for a good two thirds of their games. Generally the back up ten still got minutes however. I think you'll find you'll see the same as last week were Smith stayed on for 80 (he got found out but it was still an exciting move/tactic that worked).

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Bull Shark 17 minutes ago

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Riyadh Rugby

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Flankly 21 minutes ago

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I am not an England fan, but still very disappointed at what Borthwick is serving up. Regardless of winning or losing, they should be executing the basics at a world class level. That was the reason they replaced Eddie with Steve. After two years England has not built the solid foundations that the RFU were presumably after. Its hard to see it as anything other than a coaching problem.

Having said that I really hope that Rassie has got his team fired up for the game. The Boks at maximum intensity and with no crises (eg red cards) would be expected to win this game. But it does not take much reduction in pressure for Bok teams to lose. The Boks lose when complacency sets in.

On Felix Jones, my guess is that they can't agree on a non-compete so they kept him on payroll for the duration of the Nov tests. The risk was that he would be hired by Rassie or Razor prior to the tests.

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9 Go to comments

JW 23 minutes ago

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Good to see Steward back, Furbank had been dangerous but also found out of place at the back. Sensible decision based on everyones kick receipt struggles alone.

Could prove a masterstroke and you see why the team naming was delayed so that SA don't have time to change preparation from a kick heavy strategy. Will Rassie have predicted this or be looking to double down with a running approach anyway? I've suggested for a couple of years while SA produce box kickathons that they actually do better playing rugby, this could be another cracker of a match if SA go in with this mindset of beating England at their own game.

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BH 33 minutes ago

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Tupaea should be in the All Blacks ahead of Havili. Tupaea's versatility and his ability to steal turnovers at rucks sets him apart from Havili. NZ has enough players to cover the midfield and fullback positions that Havili usually covers.

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JW 51 minutes ago

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That's the definition of duping.

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JW 53 minutes ago

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Will was talking about needing to get upto speed, literally, for the game Joe wants. I wondered then if he was talking about his prep for this week or his outlook for refocusing his whole prep for the Lions next year.

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SS 1 hour ago

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Don't get too excited about your victories over the ABs. 1 point in the RWC, then 4 and 6 in the RC, with an SA try that should never have been given. And they scored 4 tries in one game through your much vaunted defense.

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JW 1 hour ago

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Was Jordie Barretts the first test against B&I Lions? He was outstanding in that and showed the same raw instinct and skills JAS did. He, like Wright, did go on to show he didn't have the experience or the temperament to know when to use them after that of course, I'm not sure that JAS looks like he'll have that same problem.

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SS 1 hour ago

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I remember the good old days of the All Blacks being able to do that. On our way again, but slowly

60 Go to comments

JW 2 hours ago

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I don't think you necessarily want to do that Francisco. Coaching the "gift" out of Jordan Petaia was one of the main reasons for his decline, and no doubt his decision to look to another sport.

Then on top of that you have the picture of three games before you first lions test, so you don't have enough to time to "bed in a more friendly interface" really. You could lean on it by moving the pieces around, and possibly different personal around it, but think it would be more wise to let it play out. It will be hard for Schmidt to hold himself back though.

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Bruiser 2 hours ago

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Canes well past his best. Ardie will shine. He has played 7 all season in Japan

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NH 2 hours ago

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SS 2 hours ago

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