Butch: I could’ve continued playing
21 Nov 2006
Butch James admitted that he could have continued playing against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Sharks flyhalf was having the best Test of his career, creating opportunities for teammates and scoring himself, as well as putting in some punishing hits on defence, before Jake White opted to replace him with Andre Pretorius in the 60th minute.
The coach later said a knee injury to the pivot was the primary reason he decided to make the switch.
Pretorius had a shocker, just as he done in the Springboks 53-3 defeat at Twickenham in 2002, and placed his team under enormous pressure with a series of tactical kicks that failed to find the mark.
Scans later revealed that James had injured cruciate ligaments in his left knee.
“I stayed on for as long as possible, and in hindsight I suppose I could have kept going,” James told Jacques van der Westhuyzen of the Daily News.
“But in situations like those there’s always the danger of causing more damage and I didn’t want that to happen.”
The 27-year-old has struggled with reoccurring knee injuries over the last three seasons, which has resulted in him missing large chunks of the domestic season and subsequently missing out on Bok selection.
James was White’s first-choice flyhalf when he took charge of the team in 2004, but pulled out of the squad shortly before their season opening Test against Ireland.
While the latest injury setback has surely hit James hard, he opted to stay positive, drawing confidence from his mercurial display on Saturday.
“It was by far my best performance for South Africa. And I badly needed a performance like that,’ he said.
“There haven’t been too many opportunities for me to play for South Africa so I knew I needed a big game… I had to make this one count,” said James, who earned his 14th cap last weekend.
James attributed his performance to the solid attacking platform which the Bok forwards had set.
“We had the upperhand and were going forward most of the time. It’s disappointing we didn’t hang on and win the game though, because I believe we were the better side on the field.”
83 Comments
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21 Nov 2006, 17:13 pm
What a misleading headline. You really do have it in for Jake hey keo. I thought you were better than this
21 Nov 2006, 17:15 pm
Sorry keo. Comment for Ryan
21 Nov 2006, 17:37 pm
Blow drying what?
I wonder if you can make popcorn with a hair-dryer?
21 Nov 2006, 17:37 pm
Time for some new adjectives to be thrown around the keo.co.za office?
I think I have yet to see an article where a flyhalf is not described as “mercurial” when praising a good display.
Maybe we could all chip in and buy them a new roll of Word-A-Day toilet paper, eh?
21 Nov 2006, 17:52 pm
I could have danced all night!
21 Nov 2006, 18:31 pm
We can’t keep on blaming a particular person for the loss. The main thing we’ve realised, and we’ll see that when they come and tour us in May, is that we shouldn’t be too worried about them in our pool match. They’ll add a few players, but we should still beat them.
21 Nov 2006, 18:32 pm
That is what I like about Butch, he knew he needed a good game & he delivered it.
Not like the other morons, they have the talent but not the BMT to be professional sports persons.
How much could we learn off a Latham, Carter, Umaga, Zinzan etc. Cometh the hour…
21 Nov 2006, 18:52 pm
Tacitus, spot on. And the Butch bullsh*t story is just more Jake spin, as is his take that we’ve got the psychological ‘edge’ now on England, and that the whole tour so far is going exactly as planned…
The man’s amazing. Never seen anyone believe his own bullshit more
21 Nov 2006, 19:01 pm
superbok. I think we can blame one person for our losses. Not AP, or devilliers, or any other player who makes a mistake on the field but lets look for common denominators in our last pathetic season where our team now doesn’t even resemble the one that got a 49-0 hiding.
Jake White and John smit.
Jakes tactics have made winning really difficult for us due to the fact that we have had no possesion since schalk has been gone. He was our only intensity in his forward make up and Jake does not know the difference between intensity and hamburgers.
And John has failed miserably as a capitain. It was mentioned earlier how many games we have lost that we were about to win. Whos job is it to motivate the players at these times?? THe flyhalfs?, the opensides? no the Capitains!!
John must go and Jake must change his attitude and gameplan and get in a decent forward coach or pack his bags with his son John, period.
21 Nov 2006, 19:05 pm
#59
well said about john smit
21 Nov 2006, 19:08 pm
In fact why hasn’t more presure come on Gert Smal when we have been loosing every battle there this season?? Our lineouts are no better than the other nations without matfield, and our open play in downright nonexistant.
John and gert MUST go, and Jake must change his stubborn ways or GO.
21 Nov 2006, 19:10 pm
wp chick. Bring on Luke
21 Nov 2006, 19:12 pm
btw did you see lukes gonna be on top billing on thurs.. that i wanna watch.
21 Nov 2006, 19:13 pm
I’ll chat to him rather when I am next in SA
21 Nov 2006, 19:14 pm
where are u then? london or australia?
21 Nov 2006, 19:16 pm
Germany, and Ive gotta run. A cold muddy rugby field awaits. cheers
21 Nov 2006, 20:24 pm
Spear tackler
Where in Germany are you? I am in Germany too.
21 Nov 2006, 20:45 pm
Butch was hurt badly enough to be shipped straight home for medical attention. It would be reckless to play on and risk making it a career-ending injury.
And REM is right — the Boks are hard-wired into going into the “sit on our cushion” defensiveness once they have run up even a riskily-tiny lead. And it always comes back to bite them, time after time after time, as they win the 70min game but lose the actual 80min one.
21 Nov 2006, 21:29 pm
The All Blacks have played physical test matches three weeks in succession without any major injuries. Apart from the top players left behind in South Africa because of injuries, they had three more players out with injuries last Saturday. There alawys seem to be half of the top 100 players injured in South African rugby – a much higher percentage than New Zealand. Are South Africans becoming too soft????
Also the SARFU shoud look at the New Zealand process of contracting players where they are contyracted to the national unions and not provincial. This is one of the reasons why at all levels of rugby New Zealand is at strength. No divide and rule as in South africa.
21 Nov 2006, 23:15 pm
willievz. Freiburg, and yourself.
21 Nov 2006, 23:34 pm
Bad luck Butch, now all he needs to do is rest up get 100% right and hopefully have a good S14 next year leading into the World Cup.
22 Nov 2006, 00:16 am
butch needs to take most of the super 14 season off, and make sure that he is fit and healthy for the 3N 2007. we are gonna need you playing your best rugby for the WC.
a torn crutiate takes about 8-12 weeks, depending on the tear and the recovery. hopefully its not that bad. but i still reckon he should take it easy. he doesnt need to prove himself in the super 14. we know what he is capable of, he just needs to be fit and healthy and we have a chance of competing at wc.
22 Nov 2006, 00:27 am
The worm is turning, ever so slightly…but turning it is.
More bloggers are beginning to see through the keo propaganda – this headline, given the story’s content, is outrageous – and slowly coming to realise that little – if anything – we read on here has the slightest connection with the facts.
You see, keo, when you get found out – as you have on this occasion, and earlier when you accused Jake of intervention in the Player of the Year Awards and have yet had the decency or courage to retract your accusation or put up the proof, and at other times too many to mention – you lose credibility.
Sure, it takes time for that to sink into some of the numbskulls on this site, but beware, the worm is turning. Eventualy, even those of ufo’s ilk – for crying in a bucket, Butch has torn cruciate ligaments, according to a medical scan, so ditch the conspiracy theory – will stop whining about “smelling a rat” and believing there’s “something fishy”.
If journalism was a game of rugby, the team at keo would struggle to beat Georgia…
22 Nov 2006, 02:42 am
bit off topic
whats the opinion for auckland getting a new stadium?
for those not in nz,,,auckland and new zealand are totally undecided on where to stage the world cup final. some want eden park rehashed, others want the proposed waterfront stadium.
would like to know what you think.
i am for the waterfront stadium.
22 Nov 2006, 06:42 am
The proposed waterfront stadium — “the bedpan” — will cost too much and the country’s busiest container wharf would have to be relocated . Eden Park is a much better option, but the best of all would be the now derelict league headquarters, Carlaw Park. Right close to the train station and with ample space for developing some fee-paying parking garages which could provide income 365 days a year long after RWC is over.
North Harbour Stadium could easily be developed, but the 6-lane Auckland Harbour bridge would far too small to carry the peak traffic. It would have to be 10 lanes at least.
22 Nov 2006, 08:09 am
What’s wrong with the headline – Butch admitted he could’ve carried on playing. Unfortunately, many of you clowns have been following Jake “the pied piper’s” pathetic tune for far too long and will continue to do so.
Butch probably wanted to stay on and is pissed about being taken off. Not like he is going to slag the coach, look what happened to Watson and Brits for having an opinion. If he had a serious knee injury, he would have been removed immediately. It was a tactical decision to change him at 60 mins (even if it was based on injury).
But don’t tell me he could hardly put his weight on his leg when he put over a conversion (Steyn was available) and then ran back to the halfway line before realising he had been substituted. That’s not a man in agonising pain.
22 Nov 2006, 08:45 am
Sorry, Kevin. It doesn’t wash.
The headline is selective with the truth, it was written to sensationalise and cast doubt on Jake White, brand him a liar (and that when medical science backed his call).
It’s just another chapter in an incessant hate campaign this site has chosen to wage, without bothering to look at the bigger issues confronting the game in SA.
Sio, may I suggest that before you jump in and call people clowns for having enough savvy to look beyond the simplistic, keo-inspired propaganda, you remove the EP-hued blinkers, rid yourself of the blind hatred (never a good thing, hatred) and bring some objectivity into your miserable life.
22 Nov 2006, 09:39 am
“We had the upperhand and were going forward most of the time. It’s disappointing we didn’t hang on and win the game though, because I believe we were the better side on the field.â€
Teams don’t win – hanging on – the mental toughness of the Boks are scary indeed.
Or should that read – mental weakness?
22 Nov 2006, 09:52 am
Weepee @ 18 – “But to be fair to Butch, he gave a preformance that is expected of a No.10 at this level, he didn’t shine, he didn’t play a Carteresque, Larkhamesque, Wilkinsonesque preformance. He was average, but for him that was the best he has ever played at this level.”
Leave your bulls##t provincialism & start supporting our players who actually can play at the highest level! Butch did prove this on Saturday. Do you in all honesty think Carter or Larkham would have played better given the circumstances?? If yes you must have your head read by a sangoma. We are missing most of our key players, Ricky had an average game to be fair & yet Butch managed to control the game very well. Remember that the players around you play a huge part in making your own game look good. Imagine if Butch had the likes of the AB forwards & backs around him, he would be the king & controlling the game would be so much easier.
I am not trying to be Butch bias but give credit where it’s due. Our supporters as a whole need to support the players who prove they can make it at the best level irrespective of province. It seems like Butch is better suited than AP to play in the NH and it would be interesting to see how he plays with our best players around him.
22 Nov 2006, 09:59 am
This is why I enjoyed Butch playing.
Don’t and can’t see any other SA 10 doing it at this level: “Butch’s running of the shoulder – to received Jean’s beyond brilliant offload – to catch ‘that’ ball and score is etched in my mind.
His ‘trademark’ grubber – which the Poms didn’t cover – to let Akona in for his try is also etched in my mind.
Just for those two moments alone – thank you Butch James!!! ”
Hope you recover.
22 Nov 2006, 11:29 am
Butch should definately be entrenched as our 1st choice flyhalf. Firstly he kicks well, secondly he runs his lines well and thirdly there is no flyhalf in the world that can defend like Butch can. Look what happened in Australia when he played in that Tri-Nations game, Stephen Larkham was ineffective in that game and because of Butch he was substituted. Can you imagine how devastating he would be if his got our first choice pack behind him.
22 Nov 2006, 12:35 pm
Pepe, a breath of fresh air mate, a flyhalf with brains, yesssssssss. Butch has always been one of my choices, I can see a mercurial player froma mile away, he is one of those…just hope his knees and scything tackles dont get him into too much trouble.. Whats also great to see in these replies to this post have a but of intelligence, not this sensationalist Bulls type we are the only ouens who can play rugby attttitude
Well done Butch, you are a winner…
22 Nov 2006, 13:12 pm
#69 … Well said. Jake goes and gets pumped in England and blames the long season and no rest. He rests his main players and takes 4 new caps overseas and we get pumped again. Now its a developmental side.
One day when he’s old and gray maybe someone will sit down and explain to him that to play rugby you need the ball. Apart from needing a fetcher for more than getting some beers, why is it that Gert Smal is STILL coaching the forwards … if you can call it that ?? If he’s so good, why did they need Balie Swart ?? If he’s so good, why have we struggled to get our share of the ball for as long as I can remember ??
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