Congratulations to Ethan Hooker, who spent Saturday night turning New Zealand’s mistakes into Springbok points, marking Will Jordan out of the game while the All Blacks winger coughed up four turnovers of his own. South Africa won 29-24 at FNB Stadium in Soweto to move 2-1 up in the series, played into a cold, swirling wind that punished any back three afraid of the high ball.
Ethan Hooker wasn’t afraid of it. He played all 80 minutes on the left wing and had, by any measure, the cleanest game of anyone on the pitch.
According to RugbyPass’s player ratings, Jordan was charged with four turnovers in Soweto, including a botched clearance kick that handed the Springboks a try under the posts. Ethan Hooker, marking him for the full 80, gave away nothing like it.
The moment that mattered most came off a restart. New Zealand had gone 17-12 up through a Jordan try, ironically born from a grubber kick he’d chased down himself. By Daily Maverick’s account of the game, Ethan Hooker rose above the chase and claimed the restart clean. Three phases later Jesse Kriel forced his way past Leroy Carter’s tackle to score, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted, and South Africa led for the first time all night, 19-17, with the clock past the hour.
It wasn’t flawless to the letter – Ethan Hooker put down an early knock-on off a restart. It was the only blemish in a performance that IOL’s player ratings described as covering “almost every metre of grass in the stadium” with “excellent runs and great defence.”
RugbyPass scored him 8.5 too, crediting a turnover of his own and steady work at the breakdown alongside the aerial duels.
Hooker’s own explanation for why he thrives in exactly these conditions is uncomplicated. He told the Citizen’s Nicholas Zaal: “I enjoy the aerial contest. And having the wind factor and them being so good in the air as well, it tests you. I pride myself on my aerial contests and love going up against these guys because of how good they are in the air.”
In the same interview, he didn’t downplay the size of the challenge either – he just doesn’t flinch from it. Facing the All Blacks four times in one season, he said, is “a huge mental and physical challenge, and an honour for any player,” and the series itself “a privilege.”
“The All Blacks blinked in that Soweto wind but Ethan was ready for them! That’s the difference between a squad player and the wing now running out as first choice on Rassie’s teamsheet!” – 🎙️Jay
Seven years ago, Hooker was in Grade 10 at Westville Boys’ High, watching the Springboks lift the World Cup in Japan. Several of the players who won that final are now his teammates. “I take a step back and it’s hard to believe I’m mates with these guys now,” he told TimesLive’s David Isaacson.
In the same interview, he explained how the wing conversion happened. “I used to hate it because I was centre, never caught high balls before,” he said. “The moment I started to get somewhat good at the aerial skills, I started to love wing.”
He was just as frank about the alternative path that never opened up. “I didn’t get into any universities,” he admitted. “It was like rugby or nothing, and luckily it worked out.”
It has worked out. As the Sharks’ own website recounts, Ethan Hooker made his senior debut against Connacht in January 2023, the same year he broke into South Africa’s junior ranks.
By 2024 he’d started in an EPCR Challenge Cup final win over Gloucester and a Currie Cup final win over the Lions, scoring a try in the latter. His Springbok debut followed off the bench against Italy in July 2025.
His first Test start told the rest of the story. Handed the number 14 jersey in Wellington in September 2025, Hooker carried the ball 11 times for 99 metres, beat five defenders, made a clean break and produced an offload, as the Springboks put 43 points on the All Blacks.
He was named SA Rugby’s Young Player of the Year for 2025 and shortlisted for World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player award.
Even that rise had a detour. Hooker dislocated his shoulder in April 2026 during a United Rugby Championship match against the Ospreys, needed surgery, and missed the Nations Championship altogether during his recovery. He was back in the Springbok 23 in time for this series against the All Blacks.
That fearlessness isn’t new – it’s just finally got the biggest stage to prove itself on. As Sharks and Springbok teammates told rugby365’s Annemie Bester back in June 2025, the belief in Ethan Hooker was already there. His national coach was clear about where he wanted him:
Rassie Erasmus, Springbok head coach:
“We see him as a 13 and we want to use him as a 13.”
His Sharks and Springbok teammates needed no convincing either way.
Damian de Allende, Springbok centre:
“I think I can learn a lot from Ethan. The way he has played in the URC this season has been incredible. He has been the backbone of the Sharks’ backline.”
Aphelele Fassi, Springbok fullback:
“I think he is a brilliant player who can play centre and wing. He has shown his value through the season at the Sharks and what he can produce.”
The Sharks clearly agree. SABC Sport reported that they extended Hooker’s contract through to 2029, tearing up a deal that ran only to 2027, in recognition of how far he has come in eighteen months.
The South African rated his Soweto performance 9 out of 10 and said it would be hard to leave him out even once Cheslin Kolbe and Arendse are both fit. That verdict got sharper just days later, when TimesLive confirmed Kolbe had been ruled out of the series decider with an injury of his own. The player some thought would be squeezed out once the senior wings returned is now, by a fair distance, the safest name on the team sheet.
For what it’s worth, he was named Player of the Match too, though it barely registered with him. “It was the last thing on my mind because I was so exhausted after 80 minutes and so happy that we won,” he told Sowetan’s David Isaacson. “I was like, ‘Flip, there’s a Man of the Match’ – it actually slipped my mind.”
Rassie Erasmus was just as quick to play down the achievement of a series lead won on home soil, as he told TimesLive’s George Byron:
Rassie Erasmus, Springbok head coach:
“I know a lot of people said that this is the series here in South Africa, but it is not. We’ve played three games here, and we’re one up, but the final game is still to come.”
One more Test remains, in Baltimore, with the series on the line. New Zealand will need to find the composure Jordan lost in Soweto. Ethan Hooker never lost his.
