Before July 2025, he had never played a Test. On Saturday he wears No. 11 for the Springboks in Turin, with Cheslin Kolbe sidelined.
SA Rugby has ruled Kolbe out of this month’s Tests with injury, along with Eben Etzebeth, Andre Esterhuizen and Handre Pollard. So for Ethan Hooker, Springboks wing is the job description this week. He starts on the left wing against Italy at the Allianz Stadium, and it will be his 15th Test. His first came against the same opponent. And here is the twist: he is a centre by trade.
Who he is: Ethan Hooker, Springboks wing and Durban boy
Hooker is 23. The Sharks give his date of birth as 20 January 2003, call him Durban-born and list Westville as his hometown. They also list him at 1.94 metres and 102 kilograms, which is a lot of rugby player to send down a touchline.
He was nobody’s big signing. The club’s own player story says he was not heavily recruited when he left school, and that he started on a training arrangement before he earned a full contract. His senior debut came against Connacht in the URC in January 2023, the same year he played for South Africa at the World Rugby Under-20 Championship.
Then 2024 made his name in Durban. He started the Challenge Cup final win over Gloucester, then started and scored in the Currie Cup final against the Lions as the Sharks completed a double. Our Sharks team page has the wider story of the club that brought him through.
Why now: from eight caps to 14, and a jersey to fill
The Test record is short and already eventful. His debut came off the bench against Italy in Gqeberha in July 2025. His first start came in Wellington, in the 43-10 win over the All Blacks, a record margin at the time. By the Sharks’ count he carried 11 times for 99 metres that night and beat five defenders. He finished 2025 with eight caps, a Rugby Championship title and a nomination for World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year, and in March he collected SA Rugby’s Young Player of the Year award for that season.
This year has asked more of him. A dislocated shoulder against the Ospreys in April cost him 11 weeks, the Sharks say. He came back to start on the wing against the All Blacks in Cape Town in late August, and again at No. 11 in Perth in September, where Australia won 42-38. SA Rugby now has him on 14 caps, with two tries and 10 points.
The club form has travelled too. Last Saturday at Thomond Park he was named at inside centre for his 50th appearance for the Sharks in international competition, and the Sharks beat Munster 15-3 in the rain to finish their European tour with three wins from three.
So why him, and why now? With Kolbe unavailable, Rassie Erasmus needed a left wing and backed experience nearly everywhere else. Hooker’s 14 caps are the third-fewest in the starting XV; only Salmaan Moerat and Morne van den Berg, on 11 each, have fewer. The full Springbok team for Turin shows just how settled the rest of it is.
Strengths and style: a centre’s frame on the wing
Hooker is a midfielder who learned to be a wing. The Sharks say the centres were his natural home, and that moving wide meant learning the high-ball game, which was new territory. He worked at it, and by the club’s account he came to enjoy it. In August he told Business Report that he had always felt at home at No. 12, but that these days he has no preference.
That background is the selling point. From the wing he gives a side the contact, the tackling and the carrying of a centre, with the pace and the space awareness an outside back needs. The club rates him among the most exciting young strike runners in the URC.
He also likes the unglamorous end of the game. Speaking at SA Rugby’s awards in March, he described himself as a forward who happens to play in the backs, happy to do the grunt work, and said he would be open to a hybrid role like the one his Sharks teammate Esterhuizen plays, if the coaches ever asked.
Our view: expect him to come off his wing looking for the ball, in midfield and close to the rucks, and to chase every kick. The aerial battle is the newest part of his game, so that is where Italy may test him first.
What to watch next
Saturday comes first, with kick-off at 13:40 SAST (12:40 in Turin) at the Allianz Stadium, live on SuperSport. Count how often he turns up in midfield when the Boks swing the ball wide.
Then November moves fast. France in Paris on Friday 13 November, Ireland in Dublin on Saturday 21 November, and Finals Weekend, which ends on Sunday 29 November. The Boks lead the southern table only on points difference, with the All Blacks also on 15 points, so there is no slack in any of it. Our explainer on how the Nations Championship works lays out the stakes of each match.
The longer view looks settled. News24 reported in May that he had extended his Sharks contract until 2029. A strong month and Erasmus has a welcome decision to make on the wing, with the 2027 World Cup on the horizon.
He was not the schoolboy everyone chased. He became the centre the Sharks moved wide, the young player SA Rugby honoured and the Shark who brought up 50 in the Limerick rain. On Saturday he gets the left touchline in Turin. Keep your eyes on No. 11.