From starting their rugby careers as two teenagers in the Western Province youth ranks – to winning the sport’s biggest global honours not once but twice. The Springbok duo of Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth has experienced it all.
Over the years the two have been inseparable with their careers almost identical having both donned the colours of the University of Cape Town (UCT) in the Varsity Cup, and played for WP, the Stormers and when Siya played his first match for the Springboks it was no one other than Eben who welcomed him onto the field.
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More recently Eben returned to South Africa after playing rugby at French Club Toulon. Many assumed that the Bok giant would return to his former club the Stormers but it was in fact Siya who convinced him to join the Sharks where they were reunited at last. With a bond so strong it didn’t seem as if anything could break up their bromance.
That is until Siya left for France…
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In a recent Instagram post Eben shared a post-match game photo with fellow team mates Curwin Bosch and Francois Venter, after returning to his club following a successful World Cup campaign.
He captioned it: “It’s been a while! Great to be back with @Sharksrugby.”
Not hesitating to enter the comment section was Siya who wrote: “@ebenetzebeth ??.”
With Siya having recently joining the French team Racing92, Eben jokingly responded by saying: “ @Siyakolisi if you not in my team I don’t want you in my comments.”
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Many users in the comment section were left laughing, at the pair’s written exchanges, bearing in mind that it was nothing but a bit of banter.
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Meanwhile, the duo has always been supportive of each other’s ambitions. When Siya and Rachel got married in 2016, Eben was among the seven groomsmen in their wedding.
Following the announcement that Siya would be selected as captain of the Springboks in 2018, the Bok lock made it no secret of how happy he was for his long-time friend.
“I’ve worked with Siya since U-18 and just to see him grow as a man and a leader in the past two years has been wonderful.
“Can I say I love another man? Because I really love the guy. It’s awesome for me to see him as captain, leading this team. I’ll be there to back him up all the way.”
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Depsite the fact that Siya is currently in France there is no sign that distance would affect the bond that the two share.
Also see: ‘After the money stopped coming in, so did the love’- Thabiso Mokheti on his divorce
