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TIRED OF OTH ERS' ASSU M PTIONS ABOUTWHO HE SHOULD BE, EBEN ETZEBETHIS ON A MISSION TO FORGE A REPUTA-TION HIS FAMILY tAN BE PROUD OF. THESIARY PART I5 THAT HE's GOING TO USEBRUTE STRENGTH TO DO IT.

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, . . . , , i , s t o -ries that illustratethe intent that EbenEtzebeth carrieswithin. The firstyou may have heardbefore. It took placeduring Stormerspre-season trainingeadier in the year.

While the rest of the sq.rad were push-ing out their sets of incline dumbbellpress using normal weights, Etzebethwas taping two loose 5kg plates ontothe heaviest dumbbells ar.ailable (65kg)just to get a decent sweat on. Soon after-wards, the Stormers were forced toorder in pairs of TOkg and 75kg dumb-bells, with a request for SOkg weightspending. No-one in South Africa hasever needed SOkg dumbbells before.

The second story you probably sawunfold on TV and tlen watched againin disbelief on YouTube. Five minutesinto the Super Rugby semifinal betweenthe Stormers and the Sharks, Etzebethreceived the ball at head height, tooktlrree small steps and then braced for atackle from the on-rushing Bismarck duPlessis. For an instant both men s bodiesabsorbed the energy generated by thecollision of 23Okg of bone and muscle,before Etzebeth exploded forwards andupwards, flinging the braunry Sharkshooker aside like a ragdoll. After collect-ing himself, Du Plessis played on (andhad the last laugh at the final whisde)but no-one at Newlands that day was leftin any doubt about what Etzebeth wiUultimately be capable of.

T\'vo stories, but the moral is the same.Dorlt get in Eben Etzebeth's way.

. :r ' : ' .:: :, r. glowing up,he would beg his brother Ryen,older by four years, to come

and kick the rugby ball in the street.Etzebeth's. family live in Goodwood, amodest, working-class suburb laid outalong Voortrekker Road, the originalroad from the Cape to Stellenbosch andbeyond. Although his was something ofa rugby family, Eben learned the game at

schtiol and the enthusiasm he showedwas al1 his own. His bedroom

walls were plastered withposters of Bobby Skinstad

ard Jonah Lomu. and if

on a Saturday moming, young Etzebethwould take it hard.

"He was always like that," recalls hismother, Karen. "He sommer got bedon-nerd. I would often say to hirn, 'Eben, it'sOK if you don t win.' He d say, 'No, it'snot OK. ma.'He doesn'l believe in losing.He is very goal-orientated. If he puts hismind to something, he will go for it untilhe has it. He always wants to win."

In his final year at junior primary,Eben was crolrmed victor ludorum atsports day (he excelled in sprints andjumps), but once he got to high school,he found the going harder. His athleticscareer stalled, and he became a fifurein the B team backline, roving betweencentre, wing and fi.rllback. But in 2OOZhalf rnay through Grade 10, Etzebethdecided tfiat something had to change.The prospect of playing U19C or D hadno appeal, so he joined his brother atthe local Mrgin Active. His membershipcontract only allowed him access duringoff-peak hours, and he had school andrugby practice to attend anlmay, butpumping iron had the desired effect andsoon he started picking up some size.

"When Eben started glrnming, I wasbigger than him," says Ryen, now anestate agent like his mother. "I was aboutlookg, but I haven't changed muchbecause I'm still around 1O5kg. It wasthat December holiday after Grade 10.I don't know what happened, but hejust got big. It was quite abnormal, eventhough we were eating a lot of protein.A lot of tuna and raw eggs. I don t knowwhat happened to his hormones inthat holiday, but when he went back toschool, his fiends difti t recoglise him."

The first-team coach knew a goodthing when he saw it though anddemanded that Etzebeth attend trials asa lock. "I said, 'No, I dotit want to playlock. I want to play wing'," Etzebethremembers. "But I had no choice, Mybody decided. So I went to trials as lockand before I knew it, I got my first gamefor the frrst team. From there, the familygenes kicked in and by the beginning ofmatric, I weighed 122kg."

It was an extraordina4r growth spurtas the youngster packed on 4Okg ofbulk, and 15cm of height, in two yearsof solid glmming, maturing and eat-ing like a horse. To achieve gains likethat, Etzebeth's musculature must beof a variety that is exquisitely attuned

to being loaded: even now under thewatchful eye of the Stormers condition-ing coach, Etzebeth can put on a kilo-gram of pure muscle alter a mere weelCswork in the weights room.

But do not underestimate the role ofnutrition in this equation. Etzebeth him-selfnever did. In fact, when UCT offeredhim the use of a team flat to lure himto the Ikey Tigers, Etzebeth declinedin favour of staying in Goodwood andenjoying the benefits of his mother'scooking. Mrs Etzebeth still feels thestrain of feeding her youngest. "Hetalways hung4r," she complains. "Evenwhen the house is dark and quiet at 11otlock at night, I can hear him in thekitchen at the breadbin. Hell be look-ing for leftovers from supper, or makingham and cheese snackwiches. I love itwhen he's playing away or there's a tour,so that I can have a rest!"

grew playing in the street theycrossed the road to Goodwood

Rugby Club, where they could kick andtackle to their hearts' content. Afterhe started taking his rugby more seri-ously, Goodwood RC was where Ebenput in the exba hours and more hardyards. When he lifted his eyes from theturf, Etzebeth would see \gerberg hillsundulating across the near horizon. Heknew that ifit weredt for the sports bur-sary, his mother could not afford the feesto send him to Tygerberg High. Whenhis gaze swung west, the sandstonelump ofTable Mountain loomed over thecity's sprawl. Who knew that his futurelay in that direction - first at the Englishuniversity on its slopes, and then downthe road at western Province? But backthen, those Goodwood fields were thecentre ofhis rugby world.

After school, Etzebeth sold his scooterand moved into hostel at the WestemProvince Rugby Institute in Stellenbosch.The 2O1O intake - including names likeSiya Kolisi, Frans Malherbe, NizaamCarr, Scarra Ntubeni and Sam Lane -

began their march on higher honoursby winning the Ul9 Cuffie Cup forWP. More than most, Etzebeth knewwhat was at stake. "I said to mlself, I'mnot going to waste a year at the insti-tute when I could study and get a job

elsewhere. I had to t11/ and make it inrugby. When I think back, I should havehis team were beaten

, I I : ' l

"lwasn'tinaIotof fightswhenlwas

growingup,hutif ithappens,I canstandmygraund,lwouldbackmyselfagainstprob-ably anyone."

worked even harder there. No-one everregretted working hard."

When Stellenbosch Universityweren't interested and UCT came call-ing, Etzebeth leapt at the chance. Thebest decision of his life, he calls it, and itcatapulted him into the big time. Doorafter door sn ung opel, all with seem-ing ease. The 2011 Varsity Cup was fol-lowed by representing the Baby Boksat the IRB Junior World Championship,and then playing for WP U21 in theCurie Cup. Tom ankle ligaments puta senior Currie Cup debut on ice, butEtzebeth had done enough to earn a spotin the Stormers training squad. The rest

including the {un to the Super Rugbysemis and a Springbok debut at the ten-der age of2O is recent history.

But the pdce of fame is not alwayslisled on a lhree-year Westem Provincecontract. And your name is not alwaysyours alone. When everyone (not justthe future Mrs Etzebeths on Facebookand at Newlands) wants a piece of you,and they all claim to know who youreally are, it can get more than a littlefr'ustrating.

"Lots of people have come up withthe comparison to Bakkies Botha," says

TOWER 0F pOWER l" his debut season, Eben Etz€beth passed evefy test that came his way,helping the Siormers to the Super Rugby seml6nal and the Soks to a series !v n over England.

Etzebeth. "I don t really care what theysay about that. If people think I play likeBalkies, let them think that. I wanr rostart my o\ ''n career now and not alwaysbe known as the next Bakkies.

'And the same with my family, theEtzebeths. I don't want to live off aname that they set down before me. Iwant to create my own legacy and letit stay there for years to come. Whenpeople hear I'm an Etzebeth, they speakabout Clifford and Skattie; about howthey played in those days and how they

messed people up on the rugby field andsorruxe.r off the field too. I think Cliffordcan keep you busy lbr a few hours withall his stories."

his nephew,is a man of vast proportions. Theraw-boned power conferred by the

Etzebeth genetics is undirnmed even atthe age of 62, but the battered face andhuge, gnarled hands suggest a differentkind ofcareer in a different kind of time.The son of a railway worker, Clifford

evaded his old man's temper by jump-ing out of the cottage window as alo-year-old to join the local wrestlingclub. Three months later, when he wona junior WP title, he got up the courageto show his dad the cup. Clifford andhis brother Skattie went on to \westlefor South Africa, while Harq/, Eben sfather, wresfled ard played eight-ballpool for Province. Their sister, Alida,played provincial netball.

Clifford was the finest rugby play-er of the seven brothers and won 25Province caps ftom 1977 to 1981. Heplayed prop and lock, and roomed ontour with Errol Tobias. Those were thedays of Morne du Plessis, Naas Botha,Gysie Pienaar and the like; whenstrong men feared the fists of Kevinde Kler( and Natal's relegation to theCurrie Cup B section spelled the end ofWP's trips to Durban and the wildestafter-pafiies at DHS Old Boys' Club.

When he retired, Goodwood RugbyClub made Cliffie an offer he couldn trefuse, so he played eight more seasonsfor the first team, until he was 39. Lastyear, half a century after jumping outthat window. he won his weight divi-sion at the masters wrestling worldchampioriships. Ask Clifford whetherthere is much a rugby player can learnfrom wrestling, and he will offer todemonstrate by separating your annfrom its socket.

There were years of suffering too. Fourof the Etzebeth clan were policemen,and a fifth was in the correctional ser-vices. When Clifford was Eben s age,he found it necessary to moonlight as abouncer at nearby hotel bars. But hardiiving takes its to1l. One brother died oflung cancer. Another died, along withhis wife - and Clifford's face darkens atthe thought - of gunshot wounds whena domestic dispute tun1ed tragic. Skattiewas killed while on debt-collecting duty.

These days Clifford may have mel-lowed, but he still radiates the vigourof a very much younger man. At thegym he spins and rows, works on hiscore and uses the sauna to drop weightwhen competition time nears. Although,he notes, you can often lose as much as2kg during wrestling practice. How onearth? "Sweat," he says. 'iAnd sometimesblood." He winks.

, . r " for the sumame and thephysique, Eben might as well not bean Etzebeth. He easily passed matric

(despite missing weeks of class whileon rugby tour) and does not yet have agidkiend. He would rather gym thandrink, and is grounded in his faith, read-ing the Bible each night and droppingto one knee before every match. He ishandsome his eyebrows have a wickedarch - and describes himself as shy. Hehas also never wrestled.

"I'm glad for my family that they didwhat they did, played Westem Provinceor wrestled for South Africa," he says."But their achievements have nothingto do with me. My parents have alwaysgiven me the freedom to mal{e my or4'r'rdecisions, and I prefer it that way. Ifthev dorft influence me, and I make amistate, then I can only blame myself."

Unleashing all that due diligence andbotded-up energy is what EEebeth [vesfor. "On the field, it's totally different,"he says. "You can take out all yourfrustrations there. I like the confrtrrrtational battle. I like the team. It's as ifyou become imrnortal, like the X-Menor something."

It's that mutant power, the intimi-dating physicality, that makes the fieldof play Etzebeth's natural envjronmentand the arena where he flourishes,Combine the strength required to bench-press 175kg with a backline player'sexplosiveness (Eben covers lom in1.65sec and 4Om in 5.11sec - incrediblestats for a man his size) ard the resultreally is science frction-esque.

But Etzebeth is no laboratory ath-lete, wary of the dirty work. "I wasn'th a lot of fights when I was growingup," he admits, "but if it happens, I canstand my ground. I would back mlselfagainst probably anyone. Our familywas known for tleaning' a few bars. Irhink it'sjust in our blood. My brother isalso a guy you must be a little bit scarcdof. He's not that big, but... just believeme. But on the rugby field, every playerhas the guts and attitude to stand up fora fight and take a punch."

No wonder his teammates namedhim Xerxes, after the so-calJed god-kingof the movie 3OO. There is only onemissing element, the intangible whichwill rnake Etzebeth the total player.and that is confidence. But even thatis already emerging, growing strong-er as the youngster learns his trade.Meanwhile, Eben's teammates takeevery opporhrnity to make him flex hisbiceps or show his musdes off for thecamera. The joke is still on Xerxes. Butfor how much lonser? EE

Watch Eben Etzebeth line up forthe Springboks in the RugbyChampionship, 25 Augustto5 October, live on slpersport.

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BIGHITTERAt 2.04- and l17kg, Etzebeth is a fearsome bal l-carr ier, as Bismarck du Plessiscan attest, The prospect of watching them operate in tandem for the Boks is molrth-watering.