Ireland v South Africa: lock Eben Etzebeth ensuring Springboks sustain their forward momentum Etzebeth grew up in Goodwood, in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, where his uncle, Clifford, was a South African wrestling champion. There was even a whisper that Western Province had to buy more weights for their gym when Etzebeth started training there in early 2011. But if Etzebeth passed all the physical tests there was one area about which he could do nothing. Great locks take an age to mature. Brad Thorn, the veteran All Black, and England's Simon Shaw are still playing, still effective, approaching their 40th birthdays. When he started Etzebeth had not long said cheerio to his 19th year, almost half Shaw and Thorn's age. There was another issue, too, related to Etzebeth's youth. The big Test matches, when the top half-dozen nations clash, are different to those one tier down, and a world away from provincial or club encounters. Super 15 excellence is an indicator of promise. No more than that. It's not just that reaction times are quicker, the collisions more bruising in Tests. It is the intensity around those elements, the scrutiny which magnifies the consequence of mistakes, that increases. England bring such scrutiny with them, even an inexperienced Red Rose team, led by a new coach in Stuart Lancaster, still rocking from a disastrous World Cup. The baggage is historical. "For all those teams coming over, beating England would make it a successful tour for them," Graham Rowntree, the country's forwards coach, said recently. They could lose every other game, but as long as they beat England it would be a job well done. This is what lay before Etzebeth last June as he waited in his hotel room in Durban. One factor twisted his gut even tighter. Etzebeth would be starting his first Test alongside another debutant, Juandre Kruger, who had moved back to South Africa after a successful spell with Northampton. Two men who hadn't experienced Test rugby before, two men poised to make their own contributions to South African forward play after a decade in which Botha and Matfield had set the standards. Etzebeth did well. His line-out was effective, the scrummaging efficient. England should have been ahead at half time, but handling errors and a lack of accuracy at crucial moments hurt them. And when South Africa stepped it up in the second half and finally found their carrying game, England were brushed aside. Etzebeth was replaced after 58 minutes, well before Jean de Villiers had wrapped up the game for the Boks with their second try. But he had provided the grunt, the foundations for the win. Two elements are essential for memorable Test careers. The first is the speed at which knowledge and experience are collected and processed. The second is consistency of performance. Etzebeth had proved he was a player at Test level in a stadium close to the Indian Ocean. A week later, at altitude, in the intimidating setting of Ellis Park, Johannesburg, the venue for the 1995 World Cup final and that moment when Nelson Mandela arrived in Francois Pienaar's Springbok shirt, we were to discover whether he was capable of growth. He was. In that first Test Etzebeth occasionally carried the ball single-handed in to contact, became isolated and lost the initiative, an error of enthusiasm as much as anything. But in Jo'burg he was a harnessed beast in a pack which destroyed England in a half of formidable, collective power. That was the moment when he really arrived. Etzebeth remained on the field for the whole of that match. It is true that the Boks and Etzebeth waned as England bravely battled back, but sometimes it is more instructive to focus on what sides and individuals can do rather than what they can't. There had been incidences of Etzebeth's dynamism at provincial level when he ran over the usually indomitable Bok hooker, Bismarck du Plessis, in a Super 15 game. But at Ellis Park came the evidence he has that potency at Test level. And this is how Etzebeth arrives for his first overseas experience with the Boks. With only eight caps he is way off becoming the finished article. But the evidence suggests that he can be. After those three Tests against England in June, Etzebeth went on to compete against Argentina (twice), Australia (twice) and New Zealand in the southern hemisphere's Rugby Championship. He would probably have been on the team sheet for the second match against the All Blacks had he not headbutted Wallaby lock Nathan Sharpe after a skirmish between the pair in Perth, picking up a fortnight's ban. It was an unusual example of Etzebeth losing his cool, an indication that under provocation he can be knocked off course. But the incident can also be looked at another way. Etzebeth didn't follow through with the assault, the reason why his ban was comparatively short. While it is never appropriate to condone foul play, you won't find many Test coaches privately complaining about a lock who occasionally boils over. Before heading over for Tests against Ireland, Scotland and England, Etzebeth was voted South Africa's Young Player of the Year. He was nominated for the Player of the Year gong, too, but Habana walked away with that one. Then there was the Super Rugby Player of the Year. Etzebeth was one of five contenders for that trophy. Eight caps, three nominations and a ban, all in his first full season of senior rugby. It seems that Etzebeth is not a rumour any longer.