Eben Etzebeth tells England star to ‘keep his mouth shut’

Eben Etzebeth has mouthed off against Courtney Lawes after the Northampton Saints veteran criticised the Bulls for fielding a heavily-changed lineup in the Champions Cup quarter-finals.

Lawes was critical of the Bulls’ decision not to send a full-strength squad to the United Kingdom for the Champions Cup quarter-final clash against his Northampton Saints side at Franklin’s Gardens on 13 April.

Citing travel issues and injury concerns, Jake White opted to leave 11 Springboks in South Africa, highlighting the travel issues and injury concerns his side faced.

While some moaned that the Bulls were demeaning and undermining the prestige of the Champions Cup, Lawes called the situation a “carnival” that was blown out of proportion to put pressure on the Saints ahead of the showdown.

EBEN ETZEBETH COMES TO THE BULLS’ DEFENCE

Appearing on the latest episode of The Rugby Pod with Jim Hamilton, Bok lock Etzebeth came out in defence of his countrymen and offered his take on the issue.

“The Bulls got a lot of criticism their way and unfairly I think. Obviously, I saw some players like Courtney Lawes mentioning something, and that’s a ‘South African way’, I don’t know why he mentioned the whole of South Africa,” Etzebeth said.

“He surely doesn’t know what’s going on in South Africa, so he must rather keep his mouth shut.”

“It’s Jake’s call. If you’re head coach, you must be able to select whoever you want to. In the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, if you reach the top four and you don’t have a home semi-final, then the chances of you winning that comp is really low,” Etzebeth added.

“They had to go away in the quarters and then probably go to Leinster and then play again in Europe against maybe Toulouse, so it’s always going to be difficult.”

Springbok enforcer Eben Etzebeth. Photo: MyPlayers.