Habana needs help
8 Mar 2011
GAVIN RICH, writing in SA Rugby magazine, says Bryan Habana needs creative players around him if he’s to start scoring tries at Test level again.
Not since Percy Montgomery and his white boots invoked the ire of the Loftus crowd in a Tri-Nations match in 1999 has a Springbok been jeered and heckled as mercilessly as Bryan Habana was by the Bloemfontein crowd last season. Poor Habana looked like he had no place to hide as his own supporters turned on him during a first half against Australia in which he was cruelly exposed several times on defence and in which he looked incapable of catching the ball without making a mistake.
For Habana it was surely the nadir of a career which was highlighted by him winning the IRB Player of the Year award just three seasons previously. The award in 2007 was always going to go to the top performer at the World Cup, and Habana’s eight tries in the tournament, including four in the opening match against Samoa, equalled the record set by Jonah Lomu in 1999 for the number of tries scored by an individual at rugby’s showpiece event.
So it has been quite a slide for Habana, and the statistics appear to back up the perception of his critics that his match-winning abilities are on the wane. At the end of 2007, after three full seasons in the green and gold, Habana had scored 30 tries for his country. Back then you would have predicted that by now he would have advanced to a point where his number of tries matched Jacques Kallis’s batting average. But Habana is nowhere near the mid-50s, and Joost van der Westhuizen’s aggregate tally of 38 Test tries for the Boks still has to be eclipsed. That is the number of tries next to Habana’s name now, yet he equalled Van der Westhuizen’s record as long ago as June of last year.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said during the Tri-Nations that what was stumping Habana was his eagerness to break the record. Yet that cannot explain why in the three years since the World Cup he has only scored eight times. He wasn’t on the cusp of the record in 2008, when he only scored two tries in the entire season.
Neither is it just Habana’s strike rate that has bred him a phalanx of critics questioning his worth. It was his defensive play more than any weaknesses in his attacking game that most contributed to the crescendo of boos and jeers in the Bloemfontein Test.
In that game and the one in Pretoria the previous week, the Wallabies were all over the Boks in the first half – and the misalignment of Habana’s spot tackles were a contributing factor in forcing the Boks to play catch-up on both occasions.
It was Habana, as much as the then out-of-form skipper John Smit, the critics were thinking of when they slammed De Villiers for not being strong enough to make big selection calls and sacrifice senior players.
And yet, for all this black and white statistical evidence weighing against Habana, there are a few things which just don’t add up and which should prompt deeper probing and analysis of where and why it appears to be going wrong for him.
For a start, where were the question marks over Habana’s pace and finishing ability when he scored two tries in his first Newlands appearance in a Stormers jersey against the Waratahs last February? Yes, there was carping from some Cape critics who think every ball should be thrown to the wing and who felt that Habana’s attacking ability was not utilised properly in the Stormers’ system.
But Habana never once let the Stormers down; he scored tries when it was on to do so, and it is hard to recall him producing the errors that blighted him at Springbok level. Moreover, the Stormers ended the Super 14 with a phenomenal defensive record and there were none of the question marks that were to plague Habana in the Tri-Nations.
The Stormers conceded an average of just over one try per match, so clearly there was no defensive weakness. Neither was it a case of Habana losing form in the Tri-Nations and then going into an irreversible slide. Some aspects of the claims made by the Bok management after a series of tests conducted during the Bok camp last September were questioned, but there was no reason to disbelieve the contention that Habana was quicker than ever.
Certainly when he returned to rugby for Western Province against the Sharks at Newlands he showed the kind of pace that has played such a big part in his success. Habana was sharp in the WP jersey, and it led us to expect him to be the same for the Boks in the UK and Ireland. He wasn’t, so why is that?
There are no clear answers, but the question could be at least partially answered if you go back to Habana’s humble speech when he accepted his IRB Player of the Year award in Paris. He refused to accept all the credit for what he achieved, and instead pointed to those around him.
He reminded everyone that rugby is a team game, and the man he singled out for particular mention as the architect of what had gone right for both himself and the Boks was scrumhalf Fourie du Preez.
Some might say it was false modesty, but those who have heard former All Blacks wing Jeff Wilson talk at coaching courses will get a strong sense of what Habana was on about. It is Wilson’s view that a wing is almost completely reliant on the creators around him.
Wilson does have a point. Jonah Lomu, with his massive bulk and strength, was a rare and almost unique example of a winger who could force his way over for tries from almost impossible situations. For the most part wings tend to take credit for what has been done around them, just as goal-kickers often steal the limelight from the hard-working forwards who create the pressure that leads to the penalties.
Is it stretching it to suggest that part of the reason Habana looks off for the Boks but remains sharp in a Stormers jersey is because in one team he has Morné Steyn as his flyhalf and in the other he has Peter Grant? One player asks questions of the opposing defences, thus creating more opportunities out wide, the other does it much less so.
It wasn’t just Habana who looked bankrupt on attack in the Bok jersey last season, the entire backline did. There was a rush to blame Bok assistant coach Dick Muir for this, but there has been nothing wrong with the attacking potency of the other backlines that Muir has coached.
Unfortunately no one had the guts to do what should have been done by giving Pat Lambie an opportunity to start in a Test, but all the Bok management – and this includes De Villiers – were astounded at the effect that the 20-year-old Sharks flyhalf had on the backs in training sessions during the last end-of-year tour.
Lambie did show how effective the backs could be with him at pivot in his brief cameo in his debut match in Dublin. Those who doubt this view should take a look at the try scored by Gio Aplon when Lambie was on the field – where did it come from and who created it? Lambie’s ability to take the ball and pass it accurately from the gainline played a big part.
There wasn’t too much of that last year from the Boks, and, to be honest, neither was there in South Africa’s successful 2009 season, where percentage rugby was the key to the resounding Tri-Nations triumph.
During that southern hemisphere competition there was a moment when the Boks might have given some insight into why Habana may appear to be struggling. In the match in Perth the Boks shocked the Aussies by running the ball. It was their best running performance in ages, and Habana scored a brace.
Of course, given the strategy of the Bulls and Bok teams he has played for, it would be no surprise to find that a high percentage of Habana’s tries across all levels have come off kick and chase, and several were also the product of intercepts which capitalise on the panic of opponents who have been squeezed.
But given the opportunity, Habana has been as fine a finisher of opportunities that have been created for him as anyone who has played the game. So it would probably be reasonable to assume Habana would have added significantly to his try-scoring tally had he been in the side on the other day (apart from Perth) in recent memory when the Boks were in the business of creating tries for their wings.
That was in the 53-8 win over Australia in the last Tri-Nations match of 2008. Jongi Nokwe scored four tries, but every one of those tries was laid on a platter for Nokwe, all he needed was his pace to finish off.
What was significant about that game was that it was the last that Butch James played as the first-choice starting flyhalf. In the initial days of De Villiers’s reign as national coach the Boks suffered from confusion in the messages sent out, and James was an obvious victim, but he showed at Ellis Park against the Aussies just why someone like Habana thrived more prior to 2007 than he has subsequently.
Although often accused of being too conservative, one thing that the previous Bok coach Jake White was always set against was a flyhalf who made a habit of standing in the pocket. It was why Willem de Waal never got to feature under White, not even for an end-of-year tour where some critics felt he might prove beneficial, and Derick Hougaard only played for the Bok ‘B team’ in the 2007 Tri-Nations.
Some may now ask why it was that Habana scored so many tries for the Bulls when Hougaard was wearing No 10, but there is an easy answer for that which goes back again to Habana’s acceptance speech in Paris in 2007 – Fourie du Preez.
It is all about the men on the inside asking questions of the opposition, and Du Preez does that in abundance. It is probably the reason that Steyn looks a more potent attacking force and attacking catalyst when he is present. Of course Du Preez wasn’t present last year, and the Bok kicking game and attacking game suffered, and as a consequence Habana was made to look second rate.
Lambie probably hasn’t been given enough Test experience to be risked as a starter at a World Cup and the Boks are unlikely to move Ruan Pienaar back to flyhalf now, but the return of Du Preez, even more so if coupled with the selection of James, could just see Habana repeat in 2011 what he did in 2007.
– This article first appeared in the March issue of SA Rugby magazine. The April issue will be on sale from 16 March.
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112 Comments
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8 Mar 2011, 10:56 am
Over-the-hillbilly.
8 Mar 2011, 11:00 am
speaking of hillbillies…
8 Mar 2011, 11:08 am
Weird. Let’s see:
- He scored his first 22 tries in a record number of games… much less than the number of tries.
- The same players who played inside him during his first 22 tries, now plays inside him with the Boks AND the Stormers/WP.
- The same thing happened before the 2007 World Cup where he went for a year without scoring.
- In the 2007 World Cup he did show a little bit of his old self, but considering half those tries were scored in the Samoa game, it does tell another story (considering some of the other teams we played against)
- Ryno Benjamin this weekend turned around, where Habana already had a head start, kept with him and eventually overtook Habana. Benjamin is also close to retirement, mind you.
Sorry. Habana has to go. None of the excuses makes any sense.
8 Mar 2011, 11:09 am
nah I know what Habs needs, it is like that one cowboy said some time back after he looked all worn out “I need a shave, a bath, a cup of coffee and a good woman (holding his muir of course)”
8 Mar 2011, 11:18 am
Habana has been out of form for a long time now.
8 Mar 2011, 11:25 am
You see? You see what happens when you marry a white woman?
8 Mar 2011, 11:27 am
@Dawn(Dawn)-56:
You think he is getting to much exercise? White woman are very demanding.
8 Mar 2011, 11:40 am
@Mr Black(Mr Black)-57:
the trick is to try and make them do the hard work.
but because most of them have maids they are very lazy.
8 Mar 2011, 11:42 am
some people are clearly smoking their socks, modern centres don’t pass hey? Watch sonny bill williams put robbie frean – a strike runner of note – into space with sublime offloads. Brad Barrit made Murray cook! Jdv made Adi cook in 2008! Jamie Roberts made Bod cook on the b&i lions tour! Nonu dishes to Snakey with aplomb even though his passes are sometimes rubbish.
Meisiekind & now JdV are the crashball merchants
8 Mar 2011, 11:45 am
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-58:
To much time on their hands. I know this friend of my wife who complains how busy she is, but she has two house maids and she is a house wife with two primary school kids.
I mean, WTF!
8 Mar 2011, 11:45 am
Yes, undoudtedly wings need creative players around them to score the tries and receive the accolades. But one has to ask yourself one question: All things being equal, who would you most want to receive the final pass with one player to beat?
I don’t think Habana will be in the forefront of many people’s minds when they answer that question. His hands have let him down too many times and he tends to be more on his backside because of slipping all over the place. Slipping in full flight is a sign of unbalanced running.
I would much rather see a player like Mvovo, Mapoe or Aplon take that last pass because, apart from the fact that they each have heaps of pace, they each have unique characteristics, ranging from power to fast feet to elusiveness that will stand them in good stead when they want to beat the opposition. They are all three very balanced runners.
Habana battles to catch the ball to begin with, slips when he wants to side-step and he generally looks hurried, anxious and flustered on the field. My verdict is simple: we have better; let him go
8 Mar 2011, 11:47 am
I think he needs a proper break away. I think he is trying to hard. I have a rating system for the Stormers right now:
k for kek
ok for ok
S for Super Springbok
1.) CJ van der Linde (k)
2.) Deon Fourie (k)
3.) Brok Harris (k)
4.) Elstadt (k)
5.) Andries Bekker (ok)
6.) Pieter Louw (ok)
7.) Francois Louw (ok)
8.) Duane Vermeulen (ok)
9.) Ricky January (k)
10.) Peter Grant (ok)
11.) Bryan Habana (k)
12.) Jean de Villiers (ok)
13.) Juan de Jongh (ok)
14.) Danie Poolman (k)
15.) Conrad Jantjies (k)
So I don’t think its not just Habana but most of the team as well. The forwards have given a shocking performance. The Stormers team should be:
1.) Wicus Blaauw
2.) Deon Fourie (because there is nobody else)
3.) CJ van der Linde
4.) Adriaan Fondse
5.) Andries Bekker
6.) Pieter Louw
7.) Francois Louw
8.) Duane Vermeulen
9.) Dewald Duvenage
10.) Peter Grant
11.) Bryan Habana
12.) Jean de Villiers
13.) Jacque Fourie
14.) Juan de Jongh
15.) Gio Aplon
8 Mar 2011, 11:48 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-59:
How do you rate Bosman in that department?
8 Mar 2011, 11:50 am
@Bouts(Bouts)-53:
wtf.
benjamin was already turned around and he already had a couple of yards on habana.
I was always one of the habana has lost his pace brigade but that footrace opened my eyes.
maybe he isn’t as slow as people say he is.
8 Mar 2011, 11:53 am
@RugbyStudent(RugbyStudent)-62: I see you have a rating called “s for super springbok”..
but then you didnt use it at all?
8 Mar 2011, 11:55 am
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-64:
It’s all about focus, he imagined benjamin being the burglar in the outsurance add, and then he chased him down. Very impressive stuff.
8 Mar 2011, 11:55 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-65:
That one baffled me as well.
8 Mar 2011, 11:59 am
@Mr Black(Mr Black)-66:
the only thief in that advert is outsurance.
8 Mar 2011, 12:00 pm
@Mr Black(Mr Black)-67: What baffles me is the deceptive use rating symbols, especially “ok” for “ok”. Utter genius, he lives up to his name.
8 Mar 2011, 12:00 pm
@Mr Black(Mr Black)-67:
I think too many people are expressing disgust at players, but some teams have only played two games into the season, most three…
Id rather a team has plenty to work on at this early stage, better then trying to maintain top form through the remaining 12/13 rounds..
8 Mar 2011, 12:03 pm
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-69: help me please, what does kek mean? my afrikaans/SA isnt that strong..
8 Mar 2011, 12:07 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-71:
Slang for sh it.
8 Mar 2011, 12:13 pm
@Mr Black(Mr Black)-72: I thought that was k@k? not kek? hence the confusion
8 Mar 2011, 12:13 pm
The ONE position in any International Team that should be selected on Form,
And Form alone.
Is Wing.
Okay, I’m wrong, that’s two Positions.
Fresh, Fit and In Form.
8 Mar 2011, 12:45 pm
How do you know there is still division in rugby?
When Os du Randt gets fired its not because he is not good enough to be scrum coach? Oh no nobody asks that, but when Habana drops a few balls he is the worst ever and just a quota.
8 Mar 2011, 13:01 pm
The real problem is Habana’s ego.
He still has all the rugby acumen and ability to succeed as before but his focus is on his presentability, pose, and ‘perceived’ celeb status.
If he spent less time contemplating what colour boots, what hairstyle and how to walk with a macho gait and smile on the field, he would be able to focus on what in fact he is paid to do, ie play rugby.
Maybe it is time for Habana to decide whether he wants to continue playing rugby or progress being a ‘rent a wannabe celeb’ for Huisgenoot photo shoots.
8 Mar 2011, 13:08 pm
Apart from a certain NZ captain , every player has peaks and troughs in their performance ……….. Habana is world class , let us not kid ourselves , and class will return …. Habana s lack of tries might be because of poor quality ball , lack of conditioning , confidence , but he is also crucial to SA kick chase policy and he is awesome in defence ……….. personally dropping Habana will result in helping my boys in black get that little closer to the cup
8 Mar 2011, 13:09 pm
A prime example of this is Joe Rockoko – he was terrible last year but his form this year looks like he is back to his best
8 Mar 2011, 13:18 pm
Watching Habs WALKING on the field at Newlands I got the impression that his real problem is that he is suffering from haemorrhoids.
8 Mar 2011, 13:20 pm
gavin ,what do expect from pretoria and bloemfontein people?they are a classless bunch of morons living in that backward so-called cities.
8 Mar 2011, 13:29 pm
The new yellow badge and the obvious WP colours and the pink boots makes me sick. Go back to the Black.
8 Mar 2011, 13:32 pm
78 stew: the difference is stew, father ted DROPPED rokocoko when his form dipped, mealamu was DROPPED when his form dipped, Mils jacked up his socks because he was scared of being DROPPED, rodney so’oialo got DROPPED when his form dipped. It’s rare that a player wears the All Black jersey while they are playing kak!
Meanwhile in SA we have the FatBoys Club!
8 Mar 2011, 13:36 pm
@capo(capo)-80: Do you want to buy my name, will probably be more suited to you.
8 Mar 2011, 13:36 pm
@capo(capo)-80: that = one.
The word you are looking for is “those”.
“those” = more than one.
Thus: “those backward co-called cities”.
Fixed it for you.
No need to thank me.
8 Mar 2011, 13:37 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-82: True but i think he will come right , when we talk about truely top level wings does SA have the depth to cover ????? the wing position these days is not just about lightning speed but they have to cover at fullback as well …. How is the kicking games of the new contenders ???
8 Mar 2011, 13:53 pm
south africa has van den Heever, Mvovo, Basson, Aplon, Killian, Ndungane, Jaque Fourie and at a stretch Jdv who can all were the green & gold! Habana’s kicking is no so special that it might shade any of these other players.
Our coaches are just too sh*t scared of the player cartel that seems to be running thangs!
8 Mar 2011, 13:56 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-86: Transie is that you?????
Van den Heever???
You might have just made Tac’s week!
8 Mar 2011, 14:06 pm
Habana’s slump in form is a pitty. Have to question the wisdom in his move away from Pretoria. At least there he was still expected to perform and not just make up the numbers. So much for chasing the big money.
8 Mar 2011, 14:08 pm
@capo(capo)-80: Jou moer man!
8 Mar 2011, 14:20 pm
I still have my doubts about Aplon at international level …… I think Carter will expose his lack of height with the cross kick …. but he does have speed !!
8 Mar 2011, 14:42 pm
@Bouts(Bouts)-53: While I do agree with you on many of your points Bouts, and Ive been giving Habana a lot of flak on this site, from where I was sitting it looked like he overtook Ryno on Saturday. Also Ryno didnt really have to turn around he came running from nearby. All in all, I took it as a good sign of Habana’s continuing pace.
@stew(stew)-77: I only hope you are right Stew because we need Habana to be firing. I love the guy and I want him to be his best again!
@stew(stew)-90: Until Aplon actually has a bad game or is actually caught with a cross kick, I will believe in the guy and back him (and even after!). IN a disastrous, embarrassing Tri Nations last year, he was making tackles, breaking tackles, catching balls, running with the ball – all skills that the Senior Boks seemed to have forgotten to do. Aplon is magic
8 Mar 2011, 15:09 pm
Bok coaches like the well known brand names, its like buying yourself soviet or levis when in fact your b*m looks perkier in no name Mr Price jeans.
So Snorrie try the less expensive brand like Mvovo for the World Cup and we will all be perkier when tries are scored.
8 Mar 2011, 16:42 pm
@Treehugger(Treehugger)-92: Hahahaha a very unconventional analogy, but one with a lot of truth in it!
8 Mar 2011, 16:49 pm
jdv… there is the problem!
8 Mar 2011, 18:01 pm
@BringItHomeBoks(bokfan1)-93:
glad you liked it.
8 Mar 2011, 18:32 pm
Habana is a formidable weapon who is being wasted under two clowns titled coaches, AC and PdV
Habana’s handling requires disciplined to keep him back at the overlap, he needs skilled centres to introduce him at speed, that has no chance to happened with Jacobs and De Jongh.
If he doesn’t see the ball then he goes on his desperate ‘stealth prowling’ antics for interceptions, not realising teams already are watching out for him being out of place
8 Mar 2011, 18:35 pm
@Treehugger(Treehugger)-92: Perkier in no name Mr Price…!!? Hellsteeth, that must either be an outstanding bu.m or a broken mirror.
8 Mar 2011, 18:36 pm
@stew(stew)-90:
he had a high speed
Watch him after being rushed into action from arthroscopic surgery, too early
He is now become aware of the ‘Law of Impact’ latel, he prefers now a side stepping across instead of straight line, can’t blame
8 Mar 2011, 21:04 pm
No, what Bryan needs is a good klap. If he wants inspiration he can look at his fat pay cheque.
8 Mar 2011, 21:08 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-97: Have a great ars&
Am definitely not going to bundu bash, lunge horses, muck stables and sort out animals in pricey jeans, that is just stupid, going out different story and even then sometimes the cheaper brands are a better fit, dont need a R1000 pair of jeans to look good sometimes cheaper are better and don’t argue shopping and wearing jeans is my thing, and sometimes women are slim with muscle tone and have good bodies, specially if you are not sitting on your b*m all day.
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