Eben Etzebeth revealed that he was put through the ringer during the Sharks' dramatic United Rugby Championship win over the Stormers on Saturday night.
Etzebeth, who was on the sidelines at Kings Park because of injury, carried water and messages to the players on the field and had a ring-side seat as the drama unfolded in the dying minutes of the match.
The Sharks seemed to have the match pretty much wrapped up when they were 21-8 ahead with a few minutes to play. But the Stormers got a dramatic penalty try to make it a six-point ball game with less than five minutes minutes to play.
The Stormers then attacked they length of the field, and thought they had won the match after the final whistle when replacement flyhalf Manie Libbok went over to score under the post to stun the Durban crowd. However, the try was disallowed after it was adjudged that Libbok had knocked the ball on in the build up, giving the Sharks their first win over their bogey side since 2021.
Etzebeth posted about the experience and the tension of with pictures on Instagram, saying: "Stress levels are definitely much higher on the side lines than on the field @sharksrugby. Great result for us."
However, his good friend and Springboks teammate Siya Kolisi had a couple of issues with how Etzebeth transferred the messages to the Sharks' acting captain on the pitch.
Kolisi commented with GIF, reading "why are you yelling at me???", with the Bok skipper mentioning "this was me every time you brought a message on the field".
However, Etzebeth may have been forced too shout a bit because of the loud Kings Park crowd, who really showed up for the match.
After going through a period where they couldn't even fill a stadium for the Springboks, the Sharks have really stepped up their marketing efforts with ticket specials, that include food, beverages and access to the post-match festivities.
It also helps that they have a plethora of Springboks on display at the Shark Tank these days, while they are starting to get some success on the field too with last season's Challenge Cup win.
Besides Kolisi's hearing problems brought on by Etzebeth's shouting, it's starting to look at a lot like Christmas at the Sharks.
@JohnGoliath82