Eben Etzebeth’s claim of Irish arrogance has been sharply dismissed as ‘nonsense’ by the underachieving former England international Andy Goode.
In a peculiar defense of Ireland, Andy Goode has launched a remarkable verbal onslaught against the two-time World Cup-winning Springbok, Eben Etzebeth.
The Backstory of Etzebeth Exposing Ireland
During his appearance on a recent episode of The Rugby Pod with Jim Hamilton, South Africa’s Etzebeth shared some striking insights from his experience at the World Cup.
Reflecting on the Springboks’ journey, Etzebeth recounted unexpected interactions with Irish players following their intense pool stage match, where Ireland defeated South Africa. Etzebeth mentioned that many Irish players seemed confident of advancing to the final, stating that “12 of the 23” told him during post-match handshakes that they would meet the Springboks in the final.
He interpreted this confidence as an underestimation and thus a disrespect towards the All Blacks, their quarter-final opponents. Ultimately, Etzebeth’s perception was validated as the All Blacks defeated Ireland in that match, knocking them out of the World Cup.
Andy Goode Weighs In
In the latest episode of the Rugby Pod, former England flyhalf Andy Goode was asked about his take on Etzebeth’s remarks.
“I’m going to call him out,” Goode declared. “I call nonsense. You aren’t counting to 12 or 13 right after a game, son!
“I think if anyone said anything, they might have said, ‘Hopefully, see you in the final’. It means we know we’re both heading on our separate paths now,” Goode added, continuing his vehement critique of Etzebeth.
“And there’s no way Eben could count to 12 while shaking hands. You’ve been in those moments where you’re completely overwhelmed, nobody really knows what’s happening.
“You’ve just lost a game. Your emotions are all over the place. You aren’t methodically counting, ‘One, two, three, four, five, Caelan Doris, that’s the sixth person to say it’. It just doesn’t happen,” he further challenged Etzebeth’s account.
“What I really think they probably said was, ‘Hopefully see you in the final’ or something similar, because the Irish are decent folks. There’s absolutely no chance it went down the way Eben thinks it did or the way he’s interpreted it in his head.”
