Saracens feeding on SA’s scraps
5 Aug 2008
Saracens have developed a penchant for poaching South Africa’s forgotten men and turning them into English Premiership superstars.
Saracens’ most recent acquisition, Sharks centre Brad Barritt, follows after they sealed the deal to bring Springbok openside flanker Wikus van Heerden to Vicarage Road earlier this year.
Prior to that, Saracens swooped for the Stormers tighthead prop Cobus Visagie, who has dominated opponents throughout his career there, Neil de Kock, who is the current Premiership Player of the Year and Brent Russell, who shone after injury had curtailed his involvement early in the 2008/09 season.
Saracens are building a formidable team with a distinctly South African flavour. The most disconcerting thing from a South African perspective is that these players who are driving their push for domestic and European silverware are in the prime of their careers and should be strengthening our domestic game and challenging for Springbok places.
Barritt, 21, becomes the most prominent and talented of a growing list of young South African players seeking to further their careers abroad. His transfer was engineered by Saracens director of rugby, Eddie Jones, who made his initial approach in the latter stages of the Super 14.
At the time, Barritt was unable to command a place in the starting line-up and was then inexplicably axed for their semi-final against the Blues, with Frans Steyn favoured at inside centre. Barritt, however, insists that that treatment had no bearing on his decision to leave.
“People may think that but I’ve got no sour feelings towards the Sharks for the way I was treated,” he told keo.co.za. “John Plumtree told me I would be the number one 12 [for the Currie Cup and 2009 Super 14]. The coaching staff said that after the Super 14 they’d seen that they may have made a mistake in leaving me out and were very keen to have me stay.
“There’s nothing negative or no resentment in me towards the Sharks or South Africa,” he continued. “This is just an opportunity for a young player like me to learn and improve in different conditions. I haven’t experienced the European style of play and going over there can only refine my game. That’s my thinking. By stepping out of a comfort zone and putting myself into a situation that forces me to adapt can only make me a better player.”
Barritt, whose grandparents are both English and whose parents carry British passports, would be eligible for England selection immediately. The reality is that Barritt could well line up for England at Twickenham against the Springboks on November 22, as well as tour the Republic with the British & Irish Lions in 2009.
The RFU are fully aware of his ability, seen from the fact that they invited him to an England U19 training camp while he was in Bath considering the option of studying and playing for Bath University in 2004.
Barritt, however, refuted the suggestion that he was targeting a future with England.
“That’s being very presumptuous and thinking too far ahead,” he said. “I’m a South African boy and [playing for the Springboks] will be a dream come true if it were to happen. I would jump at the opportunity.
“What’s more, by going there with intentions of playing for England I will fall short. My short-term goal is to establish myself with Saracens. If in future an opportunity arises with England, I’ll cross that bridge then.”
Barritt is acutely aware Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has regularly voiced his preference for locally based players and that the move could jeopardise a Springbok call-up in future.
“Rugby has become a global game. If there’s an opportunity for a guy in Europe that he thinks can better him as a player, I don’t think it should be held against him,” was his response when asked if he knew he was taking a step back in the Springbok pecking order. “In my case it’s not me being disloyal in any way. I determine my own future and it’s a choice I made for the betterment of myself.
“I played under Peter [De Villiers] at U21 level and with the Emerging Springboks last year and I really enjoyed the atmosphere he created and his management style. I’ve got no ill feelings towards Peter for not selecting me. Every coach has his preferences. But if there is a role for me in future then I’d love nothing more than to play for my country.”
Barritt’s loss is a massive one for South African rugby. Ninety-eight cap Springbok Percy Montgomery told this website’s Mark Keohane that Barritt would be the first player he’d select in his backline, such was his ability and organisational skills.
But you can bank on the fact that he won’t be the last prominent player to head to Saracens.
Investment group SAIL has strong ties with all of the ‘Big Five’ provincial unions, particularly the Bulls, and are a major investor in Saracens. They’ve been known to be at the forefront of transfer negotiations for some top South African players to European clubs. Combine this with Jones’s knowledge of and familiarity with South Africa’s elite players, gained through a stint as a technical adviser to the Springboks in 2006, and Saracens’ future could feature many more Barritt-like coups.
By Ryan Vrede
110 Comments
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6 Aug 2008, 08:40 am
#99 Alibaba: It is a personal issue with Luke! People judge him on his political beliefs rather than his ability. Pierre is soooooo out of form and is a bigger show pony than Luke will ever be.
6 Aug 2008, 09:15 am
Massive loss. Barrit is the next Aaron Mauger.
6 Aug 2008, 11:53 am
#60 Objective 101:
Man, you are truely a dumb ***. When did I say the KP was never good enough to play for SA? Please quote me or are you still learning to read?
What I was saying to Black Panther before you and your IQ of 40 decided to jump on board and make a retarded comment on something you thought I said, was so what if he has an average of 50 we have 2 batsmen with greater averages.
KP was predominantly an off-spinner and lower order batsman when he was still in SA. He was only good enough to make Natal B side. He says quotas stopped him progressing which might be a point but maybe was he just not good enough at the time. It was only when he moved to England that his batting greatly improved.
Would I have KP in the national side? Most likely yes however if we choosing players I would rather have Ponting or Hussey.
Now sit down before you hurt yourself.
6 Aug 2008, 12:20 pm
How about London South Africa RFC that is a whole team not playing in SA.
6 Aug 2008, 13:05 pm
#103 soulfusion: Before you get to excited and actually start believing the **** about KP only being good enough to languish in Natal B side as a bowler and lower order batsman the following:
Batting is the most technical aspect of cricket. You do not progress from a lower order batsman in a provincial B side to a world class one in a few years. I have been involved in Northerns age group cricket since 1998 through my son and know Anton Ferreira ( Yogi ) who heads the cricket academy. What is quite apparent in the rep teams is that when it came to batsmen that 85% of the batsmen that started of at u9 and u11 level are still there at u19 level. Bowlers are quite different and from the bowlers that started at u11 only one represented Northerns at u19 level. I often discussed this with coaches and with Yogi and they all are of the opinion that because of the technical nature of batting you are either a batsmen from an early age or you are not.
It is BS that KP was not good enough to make the Natal A side and progress from there to the Proteas. There must have been other factors that lead to him being overlooked and both are appalling – the Natal coach is/was incompetent in not being able to identify a potential international batsmen or the quota system is to blame. KP obviously felt the latter was the case and left for England. To expect him to hang around in the B side in the faint hope of one day maybe making it into the proteas as Rugbygal and others suggest is naive and to crucify him because he stated the reason why he left is political correctness gone mad. Every young cricketer dream of playing for his country one day and only a few realize that dream. To criticize a prodigious talent for leaving the country because that dream has been crushed for political reasons and not expect him to state the reason for his leaving is naive. What should he have said? I really love my country and would have loved to play for the proteas but I see this as an opportunity to broaden my experience and experience new cultures. Pleaaase lets stop pussyfooting around the real issues
6 Aug 2008, 13:07 pm
A question that is often asked of Saffas over here, “is how did you guys lose Pieterson”. To us it seems crazy that a talent like that could go un-noticed!!
I watched him being interviewed prob 12-15 months ago and never did he have anything derogatory to say about SA. He did mention the quota system and felt that he would never make the national side. That was first and foremost his ambition.
Listening to the commentators during the second test Pollock was asked the exact same question as to how SA could lose a player of his class. The commentators mentioned that the player who kept him out of the Natal side was running around playing 2nd division cricket in England.
Rod Marsh who had something to do with KP at their development academy in England said he had the best eye hand co-ordination he had seen in a cricket player, saying his coordination was better than Ponting!!!
Some praise indeed.
6 Aug 2008, 13:11 pm
#105 petoors:
Well said, absolutely spot on.
6 Aug 2008, 13:13 pm
#105 petoors:
Does anyone actually have or can they pull some stats of KP when he played for Natal B?
6 Aug 2008, 14:10 pm
“At the time, Barritt was unable to command a place in the starting line-up and was then inexplicably axed for their semi-final against the Blues”
Ryan the semi final was against the WARATAHS, not the Blues you Doos!!!
6 Aug 2008, 15:09 pm
Some Kevin Pietersen KZN scorecards I could find on Cricinfo
http://rsa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1998-99/RSA_LOCAL/BOWL/KZN-B_WPR-B_BOWL_28FEB1999.html
http://rsa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1998-99/RSA_LOCAL/BOWL/KZN-B_WPR-B_BOWL_25-27FEB1999.html
http://rsa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1998-99/RSA_LOCAL/BOWL/KZN-B_NTHNS-B_BOWL_19-21FEB1999.html
http://rsa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1998-99/RSA_LOCAL/BOWL/NWEST_KZN-B_BOWL_12-14FEB1999.html
http://rsa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1998-99/RSA_LOCAL/BOWL/GRIQ-W-B_KZN-B_BOWL_20-22NOV1998.html
There’s a certain P Harris in the first link, who seemed to be able to navigate his way into the SA Team from a similar position.
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