Ethan Hooker playing for the Springboks during the 2026 Nations Championship match against Scotland at Loftus Versveld Stadium.
Image: BackpagePix
Springbok wing Ethan Hooker’s rugby journey has progressed at remarkable speed.
Seven years ago, he was a Grade 10 pupil at Westville Boys High, watching the Springboks win the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan and dreaming of one day playing at the highest level.
At the weekend, the 23-year-old was wearing the green and gold himself, starting on the wing against the All Blacks in Cape Town and producing one of his strongest performances in a Springbok jersey.
Even more surreal is the fact that many of the players he watched lift the World Cup in Yokohama are now his team-mates.
Siya Kolisi, Cheslin Kolbe, Damian de Allende, Handre Pollard, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth and Malcolm Marx are no longer distant heroes on a television screen. They are the players Hooker rubs shoulders with daily.
“It’s unreal. I was in Grade 10 watching the World Cup in Japan, and now I’m greeting a lot of those guys in the morning, and playing with them in the afternoon,” Hooker said this week.
“But I think I’m over that phase now. Now they’re my mates, but it’s still hard to believe.”
Hooker has had to adapt quickly to his changing role in the game.
A natural athlete who was comfortable at No 12 during his school days, he also had a brief stint at No 8 in Grade 11 before the Covid-19 lockdown interrupted his progress.
“I always felt comfortable at 12. I feel like that’s my position,” he said.
But wing has increasingly become his second home.
“I definitely used to have a preference, but I feel like I’ve found my feet a bit more at wing,” he said.
“Now I actually have no preference. I’m just happy to be on the field.”
The transition from centre to wing has required Hooker to develop skills he once disliked, particularly under the high ball.
“I used to hate it. Obviously, coming from centre to wing, I’d never caught high balls before,” he said.
“But once I started to get good at the aerial skills, I started to love wing.”
The aerial battle is a crucial part of the Springboks’ game plan, and Hooker has embraced it.
“It’s no secret the kicking game is a big part of our system,” he said.
“It’s there to generate momentum. In defence, there are like 15 guys standing in a line and the only space is behind, and the only way to get there is to kick the ball there.
“So we take it seriously, the aerial skills. I pride myself on it. It’s important to be good at it.”
Hooker’s ability to play across the backline has also made him a valuable member of the Springbok squad.
“I’m easy. I’ll play wherever I’m needed, even prop, whatever helps the team reach their goal,” he joked.
“I played mostly at 12 at school, and now I like to think I’m versatile and can play wing and centre. I like the fact that I can play multiple positions.”
His rise has not been without adversity.
A serious shoulder dislocation required surgery and threatened to derail his season. The physical rehabilitation was demanding, but Hooker says the mental battle was even harder.
“The biggest thing with an injury like that is the mental side,” he said. “You ask yourself how many games you’re going to miss. That’s the first thing.”
He returned in just 11 weeks, ahead of schedule, with the support of the Sharks’ medical team, but rebuilding confidence in his shoulder took time.
“Once you’re over that, you can start fixing yourself. It’s rehab, and taking things one day at a time. It’s about getting stronger, and then building confidence.”
Initially, contact brought understandable apprehension.
“You’re scared, and you try to protect the shoulder,” he said.
“But now the injured shoulder is stronger than the other one, just because of the way it’s healed. You have to back it, and with more contact the confidence comes back. Now I don’t even think about it.”
There was another, far more painful challenge this year when Hooker lost his father, Craig.
“It’s definitely tough,” he said quietly. “It’s hard seeing what’s happening back home and not being there with them.”
Through that difficult period, Hooker has drawn strength from his family and from the close-knit environment within the Springbok camp.
“Being in an environment where I’m so close with everyone, and they understand, and they back me, it makes it a lot easier.”
And so Hooker continues to make the extraordinary seem almost ordinary.
Once a schoolboy watching the Springboks’ World Cup triumph from home, he is now an 11-Test Springbok who has just gone toe-to-toe with the All Blacks on one of rugby’s biggest stages.
The dream, it seems, is still sinking in.
“It’s hard to believe sometimes.”
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