Eben Etzebeth decides to play for South Africa against All Blacks

South Africa have confirmed that captain Eben Etzebeth will be available to lead the team in the second round of Rugby Championship game against New Zealand despite the recent death of his father.

The 31-year-old's father Harry died on Tuesday raising doubts over his participation in the upcoming encounter in Auckland.

Nevertheless, Etzebeth took part in the captain’s run at Mount Smart Stadium on Friday indicating that he will be available for the game.

New Zealand captain Sam Cane expressed condolences to Etzebeth and his family but welcomed his decision to participate in the captain's run on Friday.

“It’s been a pretty tough week for him and his family. As a team, we send our condolences to the Etzebeth family,” All Blacks captain Sam Cane told reporters.

“It must be pretty tough for him being on the other side of the world.

“We’ll see each other at the coin toss and then do battle on the field.”

South Africa have never won a game in Auckland since 1937, but have been victorious on two occasions in the three games between them and Cane is expecting another fierce encounter on Saturday.

“I love these test matches against the Boks,” added Cane.

“Our forward pack does. They’re games that are often won up front. There have been some epic battles over the years and everything is pointing to another one tomorrow.

“You can see by the bench they’ve picked they believe it will be a game won up front. We know their DNA and how they like to play – scrum, maul, penalty, set piece. we’re in for a big challenge. Last time we played them we did really well in those areas and we’d like to think we’ve improved since then.”