Ugo Monye reckons has Etzebeth ‘played a blinder’ with Springboks to benefit
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Blinder.
Former England international Ugo Monye reckons Eben Etzebeth has ‘played a blinder’ after he was banned for eye-gouging.
The Springbok lock has been handed a 12-game ban after he was found guilty of intentionally gouging Wales flanker Alex Mann during their Autumn Nations fixture.
Monye reckons both he and South Africa will ultimately benefit from the ban, with Etzebeth set to miss zero international fixtures during his ban.
“I was staggered to have the most-capped Springbok… I don’t care how he feels he was treated. To act in that way and to be so blatant. It was out of character for him,” Monye said on BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly.
“If it was 12, 18 or 52 weeks it actually doesn’t matter. The only Union that benefits from this are South Africa.
“Giving Eben Etzebeth three months off – his chances of getting to the next World Cup have just gone through the roof.
“He is going to benefit from having three months off. His body will have been screaming for it. If it was six months, he would have been like, ‘sweet’.
Monye added that Etzbeth ‘played a blinder’ by saying that Mann didn’t gouge him because it helped his case, stating that his gouge on the Welshman was not an act of revenge.
“Eben Etzebeth has played a blinder,” Monye said.
“He said Alex Mann didn’t eye-gouge him. We can debate whether he did or not – still pictures often don’t tell the full story.
“But Eben Etzebeth saying that helps his case because it means his act isn’t out of revenge. If it was revenge, it puts him in a higher threshold.”
