VIDEO: Bok lock's return after injury imminent
NEWS: South Africa’s Rugby Player of the Year for 2023, Eben Etzebeth, hopes to be back on the field for the Sharks as soon as next week.
The World Cup winning lock walked away with the biggest award in South Africa at the 2023 awards ceremony in Johannesburg on Thursday, making it two in a row for the big man.
Etzebeth underwent knee surgery last month but seems certain he will be back with the Sharks, a team that is experiencing one of their worst seasons in a long time, languishing at the bottom of the United Rugby Champions log.
Asked when he will be back in action, Etzebeth was quite adamant that it needed to be sooner rather than later to get match fit ahead of the upcoming Tests in July.
He might be back for the Sharks' URC game against Ulster next week, otherwise the following week against Edinburgh.
"Within the next week or two. I have been training with the team this week.
"There is speculation that I might be ready next weekend, but we will see how it goes," he said while clutching the huge trophy tightly under that big arm.
"I have to get match fit now. You can’t expect to play for the Springboks if you don’t play well for your club," he said.
"This is the challenge for all the other players who want to be eligible for the Boks this year."
It truly has been a year of highs and lows for the Springbok lock who lost his father due to illness in July 2023, then won the World Cup and eight weeks ago he and his wife welcomed a baby girl.
The Bok lock told Rugby365 his father would have been very proud to see him receive his second Player of the Year award.
Harry Etzebeth passed away after a long illness, just days before the Rugby Championship Test against the All Blacks in Auckland in 2023, a match Etzebeth decided to play in to honour his father.
"Yes, he would’ve been a proud man tonight. I wish he could’ve watched the live show tonight, but I know he is watching from up there. Luckily he got to see me win it last year.
"It has been a massive blow."