[8] In total, he made 13 appearances during the season and managed to score 1 try as the Stormers won 14 of their 16 league matches before eventually losing to the Sharks in the semi-finals.

This time he was unable to stop the Sharks from regaining the Currie Cup by turning the tables on Western Province with a 33–19 win in Cape Town.

Eben Etzebeth was a member of the South Africa Under 20 team that competed in the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship in Italy where the Baby Boks finished in 5th place.

[16][17] Etzebeth was called up to the Springbok squad for the first time by new head coach Heyneke Meyer ahead of the three match series against England in June 2012.

[18] He made his first appearance in the second row alongside fellow debutant Juandré Kruger on 9 June 2012 at Kings Park Stadium, Durban.

[4] On 23 November 2013 he was nominated for the 2013 IRB Player of the Year award along with Leigh Halfpenny, Sergio Parisse, Kieran Read and Ben Smith.

[21] Etzebeth was selected by the Springboks in the 31-man squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, making an appearance in every one of the team's pool matches, including one off the bench in South Africa's historic 32–34 loss to Japan.

On 30 October 2015, with the Springboks having been knocked out of the chance to win the World Cup for the second time, Etzebeth started in a locking partnership with retiring captain Victor Matfield against Argentina for the Bronze Final.

Whiteley failed to recover prior to the end of the 2017 season so this saw Etzebeth carry a huge workload for South Africa in 2017, playing the full 80 minutes of every match in the 2017 Rugby Championship and three-test French series.

Etzebeth was subbed off at half-time in the final test of 2017 where South Africa lost 22–24 against Wales, picking up a back injury.