Butch: I’m open to coming home
29 Jan 2008
Butch James would consider returning to South Africa if he felt he had a crack at being in the Springbok mix.
Despite his assertions to the contrary it is believed Springbok coach Peter de Villiers will meet with European-based World Cup winning Springboks to talk about the possibility of returning to play in South Africa. De Villiers departs on February 8 to Europe.
James, the Springbok World Cup winning flyhalf, is currently in the early stages of a two-year deal with English Premiership club Bath. His form has been superb and has been central to their push for league honours.
James said he was “loving” his time at Bath, but conceded that an approach from De Villiers could be very appealing if the conditions were right.
“If I knew I had an opportunity to continue my international career for a couple years more I would consider it. I think I’m still good enough and I’d always be open to an approach. So if Peter could assure me of that, it would make it very hard to say no.”
James said the Sharks, for whom he played his entire professional career in South Africa, would be his first choice franchise should he return, but quickly added: “That’s only if they want me back.” The 28-year-old has had a series of knee injuries which have stifled his career, but seems to have moved past that difficult period.
He was last injured on the Springboks’ 2006 year-end tour to England and Ireland, but recovered to play the entire 2007 Super 14 and Tri-Nations (he was rested for the Australasian leg) and was the first choice pivot at the World Cup. But that streak came to an end on Sunday when he dislocated his shoulder in the process of scoring a try against Saracens. Bath looked rudderless without their general and succumbed to two Brent Russell tries, losing 26-20.
“I’m going for a scan tonight but it looks like anything from six to 12 weeks out of the game,” he said. “That’s really frustrating because I think I was playing some of the best rugby of my career.
“If it’s six weeks that’s not so bad because the Six Nations starts this weekend which would mean I wouldn’t miss any [Premiership] games but 12 weeks would be a killer because I want to play a major part in the team’s push for the title.”
Bath are currently placed third, just five points off leaders Gloucester.
By Ryan Vrede
549 Comments
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29 Jan 2008, 18:45 pm
498# vloervreter
Sowaar?
Nie gesien nie, was bietjie besig vandag.
Jy seker?
Indien wel, dan is dit bye-bye, geen braai.
Ek laat geen boikotters toe by my samekomste nie, jammer, en dit geld vir almal, Bloubulle, Stormers, Whiteys, Blacks, ‘Culurds’, Asians, die hele bleddie lot.
End van die prent.
29 Jan 2008, 18:47 pm
Piet Verdriet,
Is jy in n moerige bui… Jy moet relax broer, jy is in SA… Hehehehe!!!
29 Jan 2008, 18:47 pm
No thanks Butch
29 Jan 2008, 18:48 pm
hangbal
Nee, ek is in n moerse lekker bui, my ‘hometown mode’!
29 Jan 2008, 18:50 pm
Middag ou G13G
Wat dink jy van ons ou spannetjie innie S14 die jaar… Ek verneem van n valuable source innie BB camp dat daar n hele paar beserings is…
29 Jan 2008, 18:51 pm
Piet,
Gaan jy vir ons n kreefie reel as ons innie Kaap is???
29 Jan 2008, 18:55 pm
hangbal
Nee, darvoor moet ons maar afry ‘baai’* toe, vir die vis- en kreefdinge, saam met KP.
Ek eers het genoeg probleme met die Nuweland worse en hout op die oomblik, dankie.
*Kleinbaai
29 Jan 2008, 18:58 pm
487
Yeah, but Carter is scared of Butch
I don’t know man, Bath have lost 3 games this year, two of them Butch wasn’t playing and the other was Sunday when he was injured early on after scoring a try.
He definitely benefits from a good 9 and 12 but I think both Bath and Natal will miss him this year for the next 3 months.
489
You could well be right, I have a cousin who was born in Durban and lived there until he was 10 and he damn sure wasn’t cheering for England on 20th November 2007
You may well be right about the new rules but I have a feeling the old laws will be around in the internationals for a while yet.
Smit’s days are surely numbered, but he’ll be keen to play in the Lions tour tests.
29 Jan 2008, 18:59 pm
Dan moet ons maar n plan maak, gelukkig vlieg ons 5 ouens eers laaaaaat die Sondag terug vannie kaap af!!!!
29 Jan 2008, 19:00 pm
hangbal
Daai kan werk!!
Sal bel.
29 Jan 2008, 19:05 pm
Ek waai ees manne.
Lyk my meeste bloggers is op pad huistoe in SA, of die werk se rekenaars is nie beskikbaar nie, vandaar die stilte.
Praat en mail more(as my hotmail hopelik weer n slag opstaan).
Cheers.
29 Jan 2008, 19:05 pm
100% Pietman!!!
29 Jan 2008, 19:18 pm
Cheers Pieta!!!
29 Jan 2008, 19:18 pm
Tarra
29 Jan 2008, 19:21 pm
Ek loop ook nou weer, cheers!!
29 Jan 2008, 19:30 pm
hangbal/vloervreter
Slaapplek genoeg by my.
Het probeer mail, maar kom nie deur nie.
Se vir K9 hy kan saam met my kom, dan braai ek en hy verder daar teen Paarlberg n lekker ribbie, ek sal hom vinnig terugvat die volgende dag…en ek bedoel soos in ‘spoed’, ek ry nie n TT nie, heheheheh!!
29 Jan 2008, 19:42 pm
516# Spoed soos in ‘kort pad’, Agter-Paarl/Windmeul deur.
29 Jan 2008, 20:31 pm
what absolute hogwash from some of you bloggers today!
who is by far the best no 10 in sa at the moment?
is there any player who comes close to butch? if there is i would be happy to consider his credentials.
how fickle you lot are – butch played the perfect structured game in the rwc2007 final – no frills, just tight defence and keep the bok forwards in the opposition half.
now you tossers think someone else should take over – how utterly pathetic you are.
29 Jan 2008, 22:16 pm
I’m hoping Butch was mis-qouted or the thread is a fiction of someone’s imagination because I would hate to see another World Cup hero has feet of clay. I mean WTF!! There are no guarentees- not in life and especially not in sport. Ask the AB’s re RWC’s!!! That was a mindless thing to say… if he did say it?
29 Jan 2008, 22:20 pm
i doubt he said it. Nevertheless his is far and away the best we have, and for that matter in the top 3 in the world. we need him back and if de villiers doesn’t coax him back with a lollipop he is an even bigger idiot than i thought
29 Jan 2008, 22:27 pm
But it goes against the whole institution of the game. You can’t demand a place in a side!! You have to be subtle and suggestive, like WO, so that the coach can like you. You are only as good… What if one of the local F/H’s have a blinder of a season. Like I said – no guarentees!!
29 Jan 2008, 22:30 pm
**** Muir let him go for Michalak and Pienaar and Steyn, now you all want him back, surely Muir should know what he’s about.
We got enough talent at flyhalf here in SA just not enough coaches can recognize it and pull the talent out and make it stick, got to tough it out, even they have one or two bad games, check out the talent, like McQueen did with Larkham, like Woodward did with Wilkinson, and trust in it and let it grow and develop and become great, no they shunt the guys around from pillar to post, one week on next week off, the play wing or center or full back, and eventually all that talent is lost due to lack of confidence, coaches should understand a good potential flyhalf when they see one and turn him into a match winner, like Pienaar or Grant, but if coach don’t know the score and trust his instincts how is the player going to settle and become a winner?
29 Jan 2008, 22:33 pm
loose guarentees (or more pc, player loyalty) is what won us the world cup…
agreed that there is no room to make demands, but the employer needs to be wise and look after the world class players. special treatment if need be. don’t tell me sir alex doesn’t bend over for christiano ronaldo
29 Jan 2008, 22:36 pm
Some these guys are suffering from the JW syndrome, they think cos they cake walked a no contest WC they got divine right to the incumbent position in the team, somebody did them a disservice if they think they have divinity stamped all over them, some kind of over inflated ego problem if they think they just got to snap their little fingers and coach come running to say please come play in my team.
I’d let em stew if thats their almighty opinion, if they prepared to work from scratch in a new team with new ideas and new ground rules, sure come be a part and contribute, but don’t think cos the WC landed in your divine lap you an automatic shoe in next week.
29 Jan 2008, 22:37 pm
for f&s sakes skopskiet, don’t you see that butch is our wilko/larkham. he is at his peak and you want to chow him in favour of untested/unproven players in that position. i’m not saying they shouldn’t look at them at 10 though in s14
29 Jan 2008, 22:43 pm
**** let him go because maybe **** is looking long term at Pienaar or Steyn and wants to start that development curve now not later, Butch will be 32 in 2011, and his knees don’t have a history of staying the pace, he’s learnt lately in his career how to control and manage his game and he has developed some decent talent of his own, but long term Butch is not the answer for SA flyhalf position, has to be a sure fire winning youngster with talent to burn who a coach will take under his wing and turn him into Mr. No. 10.
29 Jan 2008, 23:34 pm
agree we need to nurture long term potential. its all about timing though. look at dale steyn in ’05 vs dale steyn in ’07/’08. We have at least 2-3 good seasons out of butch while his successor learns the trade. 2011 is some time away and i need a tri-nations win…
experience does mean a lot in those tight games…
29 Jan 2008, 23:37 pm
Someone will probably emerge for South Africa at 10 during the Super 14, but Butch should still be included as back-up.
30 Jan 2008, 00:08 am
Talking of the bannings…..whatever happenned to joeboy?
30 Jan 2008, 00:11 am
#524 The only person with JW Syndrome is you skoppie!!
30 Jan 2008, 00:31 am
Thinking about Butch’s and Vic’s comments only makes me wonder what the heck Jake White was telling these boys…………….the jersey is yours by birth right. Never mind transformation, was any other talented player in this country ever going to get an opportunity seeing as how Butch and Co are the chosen ones.
I think Jake irrespective of his WC success is an arsehole of a man and not very patriotic. I am glad he was dumped! He should go and join Tony Leon is the States bad mouthing South Africa
30 Jan 2008, 00:38 am
531
Jake White guaranteed him the No.10 shirt 3 months prior to the RWC so perhaps he is used to that way of doing things.
30 Jan 2008, 00:57 am
The only arsehole here is you odogg……..everything you say seems to have a racial slant. You need to wake up and realise that the country is not all a bed of roses and that critisism is a vital part of trying to sort out problems. Open your eyes dude!
30 Jan 2008, 00:59 am
At least I can have a laugh at or with skoppie. Your comments are more sinister.
30 Jan 2008, 01:04 am
BH, no one can ask a coach for a “guarantee”. You have to prove your worth on the park. Current form, injuries etc are crucial. I think all BJ is asking for is an indication that he is still, or could still be, in the “mix” as it were.
Still have my doubts that this is a verbatum quote by BJ (and Adi Jacobs as Pietman noted yesterday) Not sure how much padding goes into these articles?
30 Jan 2008, 01:11 am
If I was Butch I would look at the Balance sheet:
Bok blazer in cupboard? Y
WC medal? Y
Bok legacy secured? Y
Bath dough in bank? N
Protect the Bath deal at all cost. That’s pen on paper, all else just promises. Period.
30 Jan 2008, 04:04 am
Morning boys.
Whatever, yes, you as a journalist should know better than the rest of us novices how reports sometimes get ‘coloured in’.
I have reservations everytime I see quotation marks in an article like the one above.
30 Jan 2008, 04:14 am
531# odogg
Please stop chasing good and skillful folks out of SA my black brother.
We have enough trouble luring back the ones that we already lost with this ‘empowerment’ policy (or whatever you call it these days), and as things stand now we are in dire straits with ESCOM, medical services, security, and you name them.
You don’t want to sit in the dark somewhere someday when you are old and frail, and neither do I.
So, let’s rather work together and restore stability and peace, instead of always inspiring ‘bring me my machine gun’ talk.
That I would expect from an uneducated revolutionary from the old school like oom Jacob, but not from you.
Your not an ‘old dog’, so you still can learn new tricks!
30 Jan 2008, 04:29 am
Pietman – yes I am stunned that all mines were shutdown the entire weekend just because power could not be guaranteed. Unless this changes, SA will lose lots of investments, Soccer WC as well. And none of us wish to see that ever happen. But ESCOM seems without solutions for next 8 years! This is very serious, and sad.
30 Jan 2008, 04:39 am
Odogg. The jersey is Vics and Butches because they are faking good and the best players in their positions In SA.
Well said Pietman and Expat.
30 Jan 2008, 04:50 am
Boys, it’s really a shame that we still have a few bloggers who always pull the racist card and tend to twist any sentence, phrase, comment into an anti “black” one. It is very frustrating and these guys need to take their prejudices elsewhere. I think we all know who these guys are as well………
30 Jan 2008, 06:46 am
sorry to say but odogg is an extreme racist – more so than any white blogger here.
to him, its pure hatred because white cops stopped him from burning down scools in the bad old days
30 Jan 2008, 07:14 am
James is the man…while I like him, I think he cannot be guaranteed a Bok jersey!! Look at Jaco van der Westhuyzen..here is a man who was guaranteed the flyhalf position but then attempted to take a drop kick from his own 22…that is what happens when players believe they can walk into the Bok team…
30 Jan 2008, 07:34 am
WHAT? I thought the drop kick was real? JVDW promised the ref and all..:)
30 Jan 2008, 08:20 am
Steyn or Pienaar at 10, end of story. Butch time is pass. Butch finished at the top, best ending possible.
30 Jan 2008, 08:51 am
Jeez, I think I hit a nerve with the expats. Pietman, who chased away Butch James. PDV has repeatedly said he will select the best players. Before butch gets too big headed about his abilitites, give half the chance to a Peter Grant, Ishmaeel Dollie and any other very talented local flyhalves that jake gave Butch, see if they wont be better players in international stage. You see that is the classic right wing strategy. You empower, skill and give oportunity to your own kind or those chosen ones. Get them to a certain level (not without pains mind you) and suddenly when they are near being a finished product, you stand up and say there is nobody better so we must stick with them till forever. Obviously a Butch James will be better because he was the chosen one and given all opportunity (think apartheid). ITs the same with employment equity. White executives who run our economy didnt just become great business leaders by virtue of their skin colour. From varsity, they were given exposure and continually upskilled till a point where they can now run large companies etc. without employment equity, no White person was going to afford a Black man the same opportunity of the forementioned White executives, namely exposure, skills etc. Rugby is the same as our everyday life.
The problem with Charo and the like is that you make the big mistake in thinking Black people are stupid. We can see right through your bullsh!t strategy and you know what, kicking or screaming this country will come out of your racist shadow into one where every son and daughter of this great land has an equal opportunity to make a success of their lives. If you dont dig it, I will get back to my militant best and tell you to pack your bags and leave. SAme goes to Butch Jaems or any other player wh thinks the green jersey is his birth right. We are building a country here god damnit. Not a Black country, not a White country, but an equal and fair country. People need to take time to read the Freedom Charter to understand what it is we are trying to do with this country
30 Jan 2008, 09:54 am
Odogg.
A country will not be built on rhetoric and good intentions.
Our government is full of the above as well as good words like you about equality, transformation and a fair deal for all.
However they are extremely short on practical delivery to the people they are filling with good words.
The only thing they have given practical priority to, is enriching themselves and their buddies at the expense of the very people they are promising all of these wonderfull warm fuzzy ideals to.
30 Jan 2008, 12:59 pm
odogg. I hope so but highly doubt it. I feel you have selective eye sight when it comes to whats happening around you.
30 Jan 2008, 14:59 pm
odogg,
who said ‘patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel’. patriotism is often hijacked by ppl with wholly different political views.
For all JW’s supposed faults, I doubt very much anyone for one second believes there are few ppl more proud and committed of the springboks then JW. He aged significantly while in charge and it was evident how in awe of the culture he was. am sorry I dont share your take on things at all in this regard.
As for Leon and the DA, the problem with this lot is the same as the problem the nats, which they are often spot on with their criticisms which those in power dont like. Be thankful there is at least some form of opposition to our 1-party utopia planners.
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