Eben Etzebeth has weighed in on the debate about whether the 2011-2015 All Blacks are better than the current Springboks side.
New Zealand were the first team to win back-to-back Rugby World Cups, defending their title in 2015 after ending a 24-year drought four years prior.
South Africa matched that feat in 2023, sparking the debate about who the greatest team of all-time is and Etzebeth has commented on the debate while revealing the Springboks‘ target.
Springboks targetting a third World Cup
The second-rower says that the squad have not discussed the topic but did not shy away from the fact that Rassie Erasmus and his team would not be eyeing an historic World Cup three-peat.
“We don’t talk about it yet, I’m pretty sure on social media and people outside of our group talk about it,” Etzebeth told The Ruck Rugby Podcast.
“We do get asked about it but no it’s actually the people hyping it up and trying to get some reaction out of us.
“Do we think about going three in a row? Yes, I’m sure that is at the back of everyone’s mind. There will be 24 teams at the World Cup and if you ask every one of them ‘Do you want to win the World Cup?’ they will say yes and we are no different.
“So it’s not a big thing that we want to win the World Cup and that’s the main thing and it’s at the back of our minds but we still have to get there and there are many things that have to happen before that.”