URC quarter-final pits Eben Etzebeth against Jean Kleyn

Springbok tighthead locks Eben Etzebeth and Jean Kleyn will do battle when their respective sides, the Sharks and Munster, play in the quarter-finals of the United Rugby Championship.

The teams clash at Kings Park Stadium next Saturday, with the victor to face either the Bulls or Edinburgh, who play earlier in the day.

By the numbers

Etzebeth, who captains the Sharks, is the more accomplished Springbok – twice SA Rugby’s men’s player of the year and once a nominee for World Rugby’s men’s player of the year, to go with his 131 Test caps (the most by any South African).

Kleyn has enjoyed fewer accolades, with just seven caps for the Springboks and five for Ireland, and no points scored for either country. He’s also won one World Cup compared to Etzebeth’s two.

However, Kleyn was Munster’s men’s player of the year in 2023 and was in the URC’s dream team for the 2021/22 season.

He’s amassed 150 caps for the top Irish side, reaching the milestone against Benetton last weekend. He helped them win the URC trophy in 2023 to add to his 2014 Currie Cup title with Western Province.

Both 2.03m and not much difference in weight, it could be said Kleyn, 31, is only marginally less devastating on the field (or in the air during lineouts) than Etzebeth, 33.

When in form, Kleyn easily walks into the Springbok squad, and even did so ahead of Etzebeth in 2024’s end-of-year tour against Wales, though it came at a time when Bok boss Rassie Erasmus was focussing on rotation and building squad depth.

Both players featured at March’s Springbok alignment camp and will do so again this week.

Kleyn calls Etzebeth ‘the most dominant’ in position

The two played when the Sharks hosted Munster in the URC league phase in October last year, though fellow Springbok Jordan Hendrikse made the headlines with his 16 individual points, and others drew attention with 10 tries scored on the day (final score 41–24 to the Sharks).

When Etzebeth was in the running for his World Rugby award, Kleyn described him as “by far the most dominant tighthead lock to have probably played the game in the last 10 or 15 years”.

Kleyn told media Etzebeth’s performances speak for themselves and hoped either he or fellow Springbok nominees Cheslin Kolbe or Pieter-Steph du Toit would win the award. In the end, Du Toit did.