Return of the King
17 May 2011
SA Rugby magazine reveals how Luke Watson’s move to the EP Kings transpired and his reasons behind it.
Watson returning was not a predetermined Kings plan. Luke’s decision to go to the Kings was self-made and self-motivated and it had nothing to do with his father, Cheeky, being the president of the EPRFU. The drive to get Luke to Port Elizabeth came from Kings director of rugby and head coach Alan Solomons.
‘He is a brilliant player and those who have played with him speak about his exceptional and inspirational leadership and about his ability to make things happen,’ said Solomons before approaching Luke.
‘I had heard so many good things about Solly’s passion and love for the game that it only made the decision [to join EP] easier,’ says Watson in the latest issue of SA Rugby magazine, which goes on sale this week. ‘Once I met him I felt even more comforted that we shared an idealism for what the Kings should represent and a practicality about what they have to achieve as a team and a region.
‘I am not back in South Africa to prove anything to anyone or to myself. I am in Port Elizabeth to make a contribution, to a team, to a region and ultimately to
a country.’
Also in the new issue:
– Keo on why Rassie Erasmus will benefit from being with the Boks
– Why Francois Hougaard should replace Bryan Habana in the Springbok side
– Jaque Fourie’s communication skills and size set him apart from the rest
– Duane Vermeulen puts fear into opponents’ hearts
– Kieran Read capped off an outstanding 2010 season by being named New Zealand’s Player of the Year, But his sights are set even higher in 2011
– In a year and a half, Reds coach Ewen McKenzie has transformed the Reds from also-rans to Super Rugby title contenders
– Quade Cooper on the Reds’ revival, his attacking innovations, and the battle for the Wallabies No 10 jersey
– The Mobile Eye device has given goal-kickers like James O’Connor a new perspective
– How the University of Cape Town broke their Varsity Cup curse
– Rudi Coetzee has justified Perpignan’s decision to sign him from bankrupt Bourgoin
– Ruan Pienaar’s stint with Ulster has given him a harder edge
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259 Comments
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17 May 2011, 10:45 am
@Train(Train)-93:
Ok,based on what?
because there have been plenty of good captains that won little if anythin…
Namely: Keith Wood, BOD, Gavin Hastings, David Wilson, etc
While the likes of Reuben Thorne won plenty but arent held in very high esteem especially as leaders
17 May 2011, 10:47 am
Reckon McGeechan was quietly happy to see Luke return to his promised land…
17 May 2011, 10:48 am
@Train(Train)-88: Barrit and Thinus Delport are better Sky pundits…
17 May 2011, 10:49 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-100: hahaha spoken like a true last outpost colonialist d*ckhead
17 May 2011, 10:49 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-58: When has Puke “got the best out of his guys”….
17 May 2011, 10:52 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-104: This thread is not about HG, its about Luke…Surely?
Or do you have an agenda…?
Anyway stick to your agenda and I will stick to Puking Luke…
The truth will out.
17 May 2011, 10:59 am
Look, the fact is, regardless of peoples’ opinions of Luke, and he clearly polarises opinion, even to the extent that people cannot seem to accept a middle of the road opinion, that he is a good acqusistion to the Kings, that he’ll bring something on both the player front and the leadership front.
Good luck to him and good luck to the Kings. The fact is, they have been promised a Super Rugby slot and SARU must back that. Better that they have the best chance of succeeding, and Luke will certainly be a good asset.
17 May 2011, 10:59 am
“‘He is a brilliant player and those who have played with him speak about his exceptional and inspirational leadership and about his ability to make things happen,’ said Solomons before approaching Luke.”
Solomons also said the same thing about Derick Kuun in 2009 for the BIL tour, and said that Kuun would be a Springbok soon.
So can we please get Derick Kuun on the front page too?
17 May 2011, 11:01 am
@Agile T*t-Tyrant(Anairetes agilis)-108:
OK, I understand that Kuun doesn’t speak english with a stiff upper lip, and his pappa wasn’t a struggle hero, so maybe just an article then…..somewhere near the back? Maybe?
17 May 2011, 11:03 am
Luke Watson did not earn any plaudits in the Premiership, proclaimed by many posters to be “inferior”….
He has not been selected by any pundits in the UK as a member of their Premiership XV’s… Selections that often include Brits, Mujati and Barrit.
The team he led with such “distinction”, Bath, came 5th…
And those same posters who proclaim inferiority of all things NH, will gather their palm fronds to lay before Lukey as he returns King of his land of milk and honey….
So much disarray in logic…
17 May 2011, 11:04 am
Butch starts for Lions:
15 Jaco Taute, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Alwyn Hollenbach, 12 Doppies le Grange (captain), 11. Deon van Rensburg, 10 Butch James, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Derrick Minnie, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4. Wikus van Heerden, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg
Replacements: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Warren Whiteley, 19 Baywatch, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Elton Jantjies, 22 Dylan des Fountain
17 May 2011, 11:06 am
middle of the road opinions that are expressed as gospel are unacceptable, they are just that personal opinions.
17 May 2011, 11:06 am
Luke was made to look like the bad guy by Jake and his senior players. Those same players that are pulling Springbok rugby through the mud. Welcome back Luke.
17 May 2011, 11:09 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-111: Sarel Pretorius??
17 May 2011, 11:09 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-111: Is that the CATS, cause you have the Cheetahs 9 playing.
17 May 2011, 11:11 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-111: Tough to drop Elton after his great performance last week.
17 May 2011, 11:13 am
@Sasuke(Sasuke)-114:
Hehe, they wish!
Should read Jano Vermaak.
Sarel skinnering about me obviously…
17 May 2011, 11:13 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-110:
No plaudits from my side regarding NH,where he was selected as one of nominees for premiership Player of the yr.It is weaker BUT what I do have a problem with is selective plaudits when it suits a certain player(s) especially regarding NH form etc which is a precursor to agenda-like opinion pieces/write ups.
Same standards. If you’re going to praise the likes of Barritt etc then do the same for the others as they play in same league/same teams/get same plaudits etc
17 May 2011, 11:15 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-117:
17 May 2011, 11:15 am
@Sasuke(Sasuke)-116:
Yeah it is. Waratahs in Sydney should be much sterner test for the Lions though.
Butch at 10, Doppies at 12. Could prove to be quie a good combo.
17 May 2011, 11:19 am
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-118: Exactly… So if Barrit ever returns to Kings Park… Proclamations of the Prince returns with you at the forefront…?
17 May 2011, 11:22 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-121: Or does Barrit not have enough “connections with the black elite”
17 May 2011, 11:23 am
@John Galt(John Galt)-120: True. It will be a tough game. If the Lions forwards can dominate again they will have a good chance of winning.
17 May 2011, 11:28 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-121:
Never stated that Barritt is a terrible player,never in my posts just stated that he wasnt as good as many on here were making out he was.(especially with him being behind Hape & Flutey for almost 2 yrs) and the fact that he only really play 12 and ONLY 12 really.
It would be welcomed for him to come back to SA especially for Sharks where at 12 with Bosman its been an abomination. He is a better version of the departed Andries Strauss who at this stage I would have back any day above Bosman however limited he is.
But as for Boks,thats a different issue altogether where I doubt he’d even be an automatic selection in extended squad (ex: 55 man squad chosen) especially looking at centre options: De Villiers/Frans Steyn/De Jongh/Olivier with also Butch & Lambie also viable option there at 12.
17 May 2011, 11:28 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-112: Why are they unacceptable? They are clearly stated as opinions, much like everyone else’s.
No more valid than your opinion, but certainly no less either.
I don’t have any issues with Luke, but i fail to accept that he either fits into the “great hope for Springbok rugby” catagory, or the “puking Afrikaner hating loudmouth who antagonises everyone around him” catagory.
To take that view would be to do him a major disservice as a human being.
But you knoew that already
And I won’t be talked over to either side, I am prepared to wait and let him prove himself, one way or another,
They way he’d want it I’m sure.
17 May 2011, 11:30 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-122:
There you go being juvenile once again
17 May 2011, 11:33 am
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-101: A good captain is one that – on rare occassions when their team is slightly weaker or just as strong as the oppo – can make them win. There are very few captains who have this trait (Smit, Pienaar, Eales, Johnson, Dallagio, McCaw), some who are almost there (Matfield, BOD, Gregan) and others who try very hard (Watson, Morlock, Randall)
17 May 2011, 11:34 am
@Train(Train)-127: Teichman fall into the same camp as Watson…
17 May 2011, 11:35 am
Out of doubt, out of dark, to the days rising
he rode singing in the sun, sword unsheathing
Hope he rekindled, and in hope ended;
over death, over dread, over doom lifted
out of loss, out of life, unto long glory.
JRR Tolkien
The Return of the King.
17 May 2011, 11:36 am
Hougaard to replace Habana???
WHAT!
17 May 2011, 11:36 am
@Stormersboy(stormersboy)-25: Luke Watson relishing the challenge of being the new sheriff in Bath
By Paul Ackford, Rugby Correspondent 9:00PM BST 04 Sep 2010
In 15 years of interviewing rugby players for this newspaper, no one has done what Luke Watson did this week. “Thanks for the chat,” he texted, unprompted. “Really enjoyed it. Take care. Luke.”
That just doesn’t happen these days, not because the modern rugby player has a problem with civility, but because the obligatory media interview is so much part of the week’s wallpaper in the professional player’s life that it scarcely merits a mention.
But Watson bothered. Bad boy Watson, the scourge of South African rugby, ostracised by Springbok centurions John Smit and Victor Matfield for dissing the national shirt he once wore, accused by World Cup-winning coach Jake White, of relying on powerful political friends, including former President Thabo Mbeki, to advance his career.
But we’ll get to that later. First, there is the intriguing question as to why Bath have appointed the 26-year-old back rower, with 20 appearances to his name, as captain, when he only arrived at the club last November, when there is an obvious candidate available in England captain Lewis Moody, and when last year’s skipper, Michael Claasens, another South African, is still present and correct.
It’s not as if Watson was forced on the Bath squad. “When Bath approached me I asked them to give me six weeks to think it over and to have spoken to every senior player before the subject was brought up again. I said that if there was one guy who didn’t want me to be captain, I wouldn’t do it. The feedback was positive.”
Watson didn’t even ask his mates quietly what they thought of the idea. He didn’t want to put them in an awkward position, where friendship might compromise an honest response.
The city of Bath has always had a difficult relationship with its rugby club. The scandal of a year ago, when four players left the club after an end-of-season party in London got out of hand, has been well documented. But whispers of irresponsible and arrogant behaviour have dogged the club from the amateur days.
It wasn’t too long ago that an acquaintance of mine, a Bath resident, regularly complained of the boorish antics of the club’s players in the bars and pubs in city. It needs a strong personality to hold Bath together. Watson, not tainted by previous association, ticks that box. He’s changed his captaincy style too.
“I look at how I was as back in South Africa in the early days. I used to be Captain Courageous, a Die Hard captain, who led from the front. I still believe that is important but sometimes you cut yourself off from the rest of the side.
“It can become a one-man show, and that’s dangerous because if something happens to the leader there is a big void to fill. Now I favour a structure where there are five or six guys with leadership responsibilities who have equal say, equal input. That’s not to devalue the captain’s position.
“If you create an environment where a captain is willing to make himself vulnerable, willing to take on criticism, willing to admit mistakes, then it encourages responsibility and accountability from everyone.”
Now, all that could be filed in the bin marked self-regarding, woolly tosh were it not for the fact that Watson has a track record of standing up for what he believes in.
A celebrated advocate for racial equality in South Africa, it was his injudicious comment, when alluding to divisive periods in the history of the national side, that wearing the Springbok jersey made him want to vomit, which so upset Smit, Matfield and other senior Boks.
“I did challenge mindsets and I did disagree with the way things were done. Nelson Mandela was locked up for being a terrorist because he didn’t agree with apartheid.
“Now at no stage am I comparing myself to Mandela, but I had a whole bunch of pressure and push from behind me.
“I was used as a spearhead to try to eradicate the lack of transformation which was occurring in South African rugby at the time.
“When someone makes a stand for anything, there will be consequences. It makes a lot of people uncomfortable because you’re going against the flow. But those times teach you principle, teach you that standing up for what you believe is right is worth it regardless of the consequences.”
Watson declines to rake over some of the more incendiary incidents. “We’ve all moved on. Some of the stuff was said in the heat of the moment.” But he was willing to delve into a period in his youth which demonstrates his convictions. I asked him when he first knew that he was prepared to speak out.
“I was captaining the South African Under-21 side and we had a young guy, Paul Deport, in that team. He was a good player who had turned out for South Africa’s sevens team, as well as figuring for two of the provincial franchises.
“We were up against a varsity side and one of the opposition said to Paul, ‘You’re nothing but a quota player’.
“Afterwards, when both sides were together, I confronted the issue in front of everyone. I didn’t single out the individual who had made the remark, but I asked the captain, ‘Do you accept racism? Is that something you encourage?’ He said, ‘No’, and I said, ‘Well, somebody in your team made a very racist remark to one of my guys and I just feel that is despicable’.
“I may have expressed myself more heatedly than that at the time, but I just wanted to emphasise the point that the colour of your skin should never influence the way people are treated.”
Quote how all this will impact on Bath’s Premiership campaign, which starts on Sunday with a tricky away fixture at Leeds, will be fascinating to determine. There is no doubt Bath can play.
Their performances towards the tail end of last season were extravagantly gifted. But, for a while now, I have felt that the club lacked real steel, that despite the stabilising influence of Danny Grewcock and David Barnes, despite the increasing maturity of Olly Barkley, Bath, in terms of their attitudes and behaviours, struggled for humility.
Maybe Watson provides that. A committed and very vocal Christian, he says he has already enjoyed a number of religious conversations.
“One day we got into a team discussion as to which was the best religion, and the conclusion was that the principles of Christianity are probably the best. It’s all about love,” which is not a topic that tops the chat charts in many rugby clubs.
Coming away from Bath, I was impressed with Watson. It is too early to pass judgment on him as an effective rugby player and decision-maker on the pitch, but, as a bloke, he cuts the mustard.
“I’m a pretty easy-going guy until there’s an injustice,” he said at one point, “or until I feel someone has been put in a position which is unfair and they can’t speak for themselves.
“I would try to resist confrontation and altercation but, when push came to shove, I’m not afraid to speak out.”
Not much more you can ask of a captain really.
17 May 2011, 11:38 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-103: Barritt and Delport are good but to be fair I think Watson is the better pundit.
17 May 2011, 11:39 am
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-124: My subject was Watson, not Barrit…
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-126: Flippant in word, maybe, but serious in meaning when demonstrating the hollowness of this statement:
“the fact that he has closer links to the “Black elite” and political landscape in this country than the Broederbond-chummy chummy-Anton Rupert-dinosaurs who have manipulated the rugby fraternity/game for years is what truly irks all of you it seems…”
You Irked…?
17 May 2011, 11:40 am
@Train(Train)-132: You have a right to your opinion.
17 May 2011, 11:42 am
Luke Watson:
“I did challenge mindsets and I did disagree with the way things were done. Nelson Mandela was locked up for being a terrorist because he didn’t agree with apartheid.
“Now at no stage am I comparing myself to Mandela, but I had a whole bunch of pressure and push from behind me. “I was used as a spearhead to try to eradicate the lack of transformation which was occurring in South African rugby at the time.
Dont really have to say much… Puke slays himself…
17 May 2011, 11:44 am
Welcome home Luke, progeny of Checky, son of Africa. Brokeback and Bokke.
Keo.Com.edy.za ‘s greatest hit magnet.
King of the Threads.
17 May 2011, 11:44 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-121: Prince of what?
17 May 2011, 11:45 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-131: And good luck to him. AI recall the article, and remember. this is Luke saying how it all happened, but that doesn’t make it untrue.
All I know is that the “old Luke” as he referred to in the interview, is partly what the guys had against him, but he seems to be aware of that.
As I said, good luck.
17 May 2011, 11:46 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-135:
Everything in your post made sense HG.
Until your last sentence.
How does Luke slay himself with that statement?
17 May 2011, 11:47 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-135: Luke Watson:
““Nothing is by fluke and when I had the opportunity of Bath coming up I realised that this is where God wanted me to be, that there was more than just rugby here – that God wanted to do a massive thing not only within the club but within the city.”
http://www.wenetwork.co.uk/action-zones/health-and-leisure/news/696-luke-watson-believes-god-brought-him-to-bath-rugby.html
Dont really have to say much…. Bath (the City) must have been truly appreciative…
17 May 2011, 11:48 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-111: Pity to drop Jantjies after his sublime performance against the Brumbies. In terms of his development and confidence, this is the worst possible move. I’d start with him, and if he’s having a nightmare, bring Butch on.
17 May 2011, 11:48 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-137: Thank you. Point made.
17 May 2011, 11:51 am
I didn’t like Luke Watson and his attitude before he left for England. As far as I was concerned Bath could have him and his persecution complex.
But I’ve been impressed by his change in attitude and maturity in the last 2 years. Maybe its becoming a father, or because he was away from the media distractions and politics he found himself so easily and willingly involved in.
Either way, I’m prepared to give him some time to fully convince me.
The best thing for him to do though, would be to let his rugby do the talking.
17 May 2011, 11:53 am
@cane(cane)-139: Think about it.
HG on the Keo blog and the “locals” who have had the run of the place for too long:
“I did challenge mindsets and I did disagree with the way things were done. Nelson Mandela was locked up for being a terrorist because he didn’t agree with apartheid. Now at no stage am I comparing myself to Mandela, but I had a whole bunch of pressure and push from behind me. I was being a spearhead to try to eradicate the hypocrisy which was occurring in Keo at the time…”
Other posters may answer that one for you if you don’t get it…
17 May 2011, 11:54 am
@Stormersboy(stormersboy)-125: when they’re “expressed as gospel”, surely you read that bit.
17 May 2011, 11:57 am
@Train(Train)-127: where do Schalk, JdV, Johann Muller, Stefan Terblanche, Juan Smith, Baywatch Grobelaar fit?
17 May 2011, 12:00 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-80: trail running
17 May 2011, 12:03 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-133:
What you on about? In post 121 you clearly are referring to Barrit and my reaction if he came back to the tank
secondly: irked by the hypocrisy .Same standards mate otherwise doesnt carry much weight nor credibility. has the makings of an agenda if so.
17 May 2011, 12:06 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-144:
Luke is a rarity.
He says what he thinks.
And that is refreshing.
17 May 2011, 12:08 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-146: pretty much in the same group as Watson – they still remain fantastic world class players though, especially Schalk and Juan.
For me the reason that the Stormers will just be a very good side and not a champion side is because they dont have the captain with the x factor. If Smitty or Vic was skippering them they would most likely win.
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