Habana back, Lambie sidelined
19 Sep 2011
Bryan Habana ran without difficulty at Monday’s training session while Pat Lambie ran with the other injured players on the sideline.
Local and travelling South Africa fans arrived by the busload at Owen Delaney Park in anticipation of the Springboks’ first public training session in Taupo. The bitter cold and rain did little to dampen their spirits, as hundreds of fans cheered the Boks as they ran through their drills.
Habana seems to be something of superstar in these parts, and it would have pleased the spectators, and indeed the legions of fans back home, to see him running freely. Habana missed last week’s game against Fiji due to a knee injury, but trained with the rest of the team and even took some contact.
What was concerning to see was fullback Pat Lambie running with the other injured Bok players on the sideline. According to the Bok management, Lambie sustained a wrist injury in the Fiji game and every precaution has been taken to ensure he does not aggravate it further. The assessment of this injury is ongoing, and his availability will be determined later in the week.
As assistant coach Dick Muir suggested on Sunday, it is unlikely that the injured players who missed the Fiji clash will be pushed into the team for Thursday’s game against Namibia. Butch James (hip-flexor) missed Monday’s session completely, while Victor Matfield (hamstring), Johann Muller (hamstring) and Jean de Villiers (ribs) ran with Lambie as the medical staff monitored them closely.
James’s absence should also be a big concern, as the coaching staff had planned to start him at flyhalf against Namibia. It is unlikely that Peter de Villiers and company will stray from their preferred starting line-up for the Samoa game, unless there are more injuries.
As many as eight other players missed training on Monday. John Smit, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger, Danie Rossouw, Heinrich Brussow, Pierre Spies, Fourie du Preez and Morne Steyn were all absent, although the official line at this stage is that these players are being managed after a brutal physical encounter against the Fijians.
The Springboks will announce their match 22 to play Namibia on Tuesday (07:00 New Zealand time/ 21:00 on Monday SA time.)
By Jon Cardinelli, in Taupo
29 Comments
19 Sep 2011, 04:43 am
Brian Habana should be welcomed back. He has been jinxed with bad luck this entire season. All the best, Panther-man.
19 Sep 2011, 04:47 am
Yeah.. we have Hougaard now. Bryan, you can get your record breaking try against Namibia but after that you can be left out of the 22, Mkay. Great. Thanks.
If Lambie is not fit in time for the big games then Aplon to fullback. Frans Steyn has become a great, consistent player – no more silly mistakes from him and he has shown that JdV was killing the backline. Steyn has a beautiful passing game, he’s huge + hard to stop and an excellent defender.
19 Sep 2011, 05:19 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-2: Agreed KK, have always though JDV’s injuries prior to and during WC’s were a blessing in disguise. Hope they stick with Steyn
19 Sep 2011, 05:22 am
Too bad Aus, SA and NZ are now all in the same playoff pool. The other side looks pretty medocre. Whoever gets through to the final will have an easy win in my opinion.
19 Sep 2011, 05:31 am
“Bitter cold”? At 15 degrees C in cloudy Taupo in September? 6 degrees C at midnight? Don’t let these wide-eyed ingenues anywhere near St Moritz or Cortina d’Ampezzo or Vale,CO. Or — heaven forbid — anywhere near Queenstown in central Otago,NZ ! Or even near a domestic fridge. Sheesh!
19 Sep 2011, 05:36 am
Habana has copped a lot of unjust criticism…
The ball hardly gets to him and yet he remains one of the hardest working players in the team.
Then SA plays a great game and it somehow proves Odwa Ndungane is better than Habana?? Get real… Habana would’ve scored tries in such a game…
He’s a hero in those (these) parts because he is equal top-try-scorer in a world cup with the great Jonah Lomu… good company.
I think it’s great to give him a run in a game which they should win easily and let him get the try-scoring-feeling again….!! He could still break his and Jonah’s record!
@Big Apple(Albert)-4:
That is just what the IRB wanted to try and give another Northern Hemisphere team a chance of winning!!
19 Sep 2011, 07:32 am
@ufo(ufo)-6:
Yup, Habana is still class. If he got the same sort of oppurtunities with ball in hand he’d be the ‘in form’ winger. Unfortunately he’s stuck out there having to look for oppurtunities.
Habana is a must, as is JP. Hougaard makes for a brilliant impact sub. Odwa will always be reliable but nothing more.
19 Sep 2011, 07:57 am
Habana is kak …. how many balls does he drop per game? 2 or 3?? also, when Hougaard replaced him, within 5 mins he went to score! If you don’t get ball, you go and look for it! Hougaard is better than Habana (for the last 2 years or so)
19 Sep 2011, 08:09 am
@Big Apple(Albert)-4:
exactly why any really ambitious team/coach should/would throw a game to get into the easier pool (for this read: france, sa or nz) as this would give them an easy ride into the final as well leave the the other teams to face bruising q/finals and semi’s.
19 Sep 2011, 08:15 am
we need Hab’s … imo…
very underrated at this moment!…
19 Sep 2011, 08:19 am
Our problem doesn’t lie in the wings. Habana, JP, Hougaard, Aplon and even Ndugane showed what they can offer.
The real conundrum lies at fullback. What will Pdiv do with Frans Steyn? On Saturday’s performance, you can’t move him back to fullback.
19 Sep 2011, 08:27 am
H@Johan_Goosen_best_nr10_the_world_will_ever_see(p0ppa69)-8: Lets not ignore the mistakes Hougaard also makes. Eg…Quick throw-ins when there is no need. Habana is very underrated ryt now. I admit I was calling for a replacement before the 3N but those games exposed some weaknesses in his potential replacements. In the first 2 games, Mvovo and Basson never jumped to contest up and unders even when they got there on time. Basson is excellent in the air but he did nothing to prove this. Add to that his tackling problems… With kicking being central to any Bok game plan, Habana’s never-say-die attitude and Pietersen’s efficiency can’t be ignored.
Habana deserves a free try, just to get the ****** off his back. Namibia is just such an opportunity. Let him play!
19 Sep 2011, 08:38 am
@Big Apple(Albert)-4: you mean like the boks did in ’07?
19 Sep 2011, 08:45 am
@ufo(ufo)-6: “unjust criticism” my foot
habana has been in the doldrums for 3 years now with the only slight reprieve being 2009, otherwise he’s been nonsense.
basson, mvovo, hougaard, killian have all been outscoring him even though they play with the same limited ball.
19 Sep 2011, 08:46 am
if naas botha & dan carter ever gets 2gether and make a kid, you’d get Johan Goosen!!! Elton who??????
19 Sep 2011, 08:56 am
Bryan Habana should be packed on a plane and sent home. He is a lazy fool who stands on his wing instead of going and looking for work. Odders and Hougi might make a few mistakes (some more than others) but at least they’re contributing to the Bok game and taking it forward instead of hanging out on the wing and waiting for the others to feed you.
19 Sep 2011, 08:59 am
@Johan_Goosen_best_nr10_the_world_will_ever_see(p0ppa69)-15: Dude. There are more appropriate websites for your gayfantasies.
Keep it clean please.
19 Sep 2011, 09:00 am
@Johan_Goosen_best_nr10_the_world_will_ever_see(p0ppa69)-15: hahaha you’re nuts
19 Sep 2011, 09:19 am
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-17: LMAO!
19 Sep 2011, 09:25 am
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-17:
The question is though, if Daniel did manage to conceive a little blond left footted genius would Naas admit to paternity?
Furthermore would Daniel be able to get child support payments out of the old curmudgeon?
19 Sep 2011, 09:25 am
@Johan_Goosen_best_nr10_the_world_will_ever_see(p0ppa69)-15: haha, but seriously, the kid does look good. I saw him for the first time this weekend in the Sharkers Cheeters game.
Strong, fast, has side-step, can kick.. What else do you want?
But ok, of course is still too early to tell, for example Gaffie du Toit looked the same way in his early days. The one good thing about Goosen is his size. A bit of beef in the number 10 channel is always a good thing, provided of course the rest of the player’s game doesn’t suffer too much.
19 Sep 2011, 09:31 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-14:
morning transie…
yes, it is unjust when everyone’s claiming ndungane is better than habana based on one game against fiji where everything went the boks way…
sure habana has not been in try-scoring form… but has improved a helluva lot of late and getting better… and had he been in the fiji game would, most probably, also have looked very good…
see why it’s unjust…?
it’s unjust to refer to the “last three years” but refuse to acknowledge that he has been improving strongly since the last few games of the CC…
people ignore the good things he does and focus on the negatives… much like they do with john smit… smit knocks a ball on and everyone talks about it… bismarck knocks a ball on, losing it in the tackle… and everyone is tjoep-still about it…
see why it’s unjust…?
criticise all players on the same points… don’t just cherry picks bad moments of one and good moments of the other and ignore the good moments of the one and the bad moments of the other…
sure… criticise… but also be big enough to give credit where it’s due…
19 Sep 2011, 10:25 am
I have never understood the attitude that a player who was great 4 years ago, gets a free ride in the squad for the next 4 years. Even though he is playing so badly, and we clearly have 4 or 5 players who are outscoring & outperforming him week in and week out. The “He is a legend” excuse just doesn’t cut it.
Habana has unfortunately become a complete liability. During the 3N, Aus and NZ constantly attacked his wing because he can’t tackle, comes off his line constantly creating acres of space for the opposition and knocks the ball on what seems like 50% of the time.
If Habana plays in the quarters or semis, I recon he is gonna cost us the game by doing something desperate and it not coming off.
I would play Hougard, Aplon, Ndungane, even JDV on the wing before Habana at the moment.
19 Sep 2011, 10:32 am
As much as I love Habs, he doesnt do what a winger is meant to do – score tries and finish moves. Hougaard does this, and he isnt even really a winger. Habana is still awesome on defence and so on, but a winger must score.
Same with Jean dV – I love the guy, but Frans was awesome at 12 and our backline started moving with quicker ball and actual passing, instead of crash after crash. Im not saying Jean or Habs are bad, just that Frans and someone like Hougaard/Ndungane are better
19 Sep 2011, 10:37 am
Let’s hope that Bakkies, Schalk, Danie, and Heinrich Brussow get a rest against Nambibia. Unleash Chiliboy, Beast, Alberts and Louw… NO need to take chances on Namibia. However if the lock situation doesn’t improve we will be forced to play some players who need a rest!
Why not try Ruan at flyhalf and let Hougaard start at scrumhalf?
how about this for the Namibia game?
15 Gio Aplon
14 JP Pietersen
13 Juan de Jongh
12 Francois Steyn
11 Bryan Habana
10 Ruan Pienaar
9 Francois Hougaard
8 Pierre Spies
7 Willem Alberts
6 Francois Louw
5 Danie Rossouw
4 Bakkies Botha
3 CJ van der Linde
2 Chiliboy Ralepelle
1 Tendai Mtawarira
19 Sep 2011, 14:50 pm
@toothgnasher(toothgnasher)-25:
Great selection. Everyone needs game time. It is a no brainer. Insurance policy against potential injuries. Let’s have a look at Hougaard at 9 – the Cobra!
19 Sep 2011, 16:06 pm
@ufo(ufo)-22: I agree, it is unjust considering that Fourie du Preez is just as off form at the moment and few are calling for him to be on the next plane back to S.A.
@Johan_Goosen_best_nr10_the_world_will_ever_see(p0ppa69)-8: If Hougaard has to replace anyone, it should be FdP, and u’re while counting Habana’s knock ons, could you please FdP to the list? I’m asking you nicely see.
19 Sep 2011, 16:57 pm
James’s absence should also be a big concern – lol – ok if you guys think so. Personally I say neither here nor there. Lambie or Steyn are more than adequate.
19 Sep 2011, 21:17 pm
Perhaps an easy game v the Namibians is just what BH needs! A few good potential tries to get him out in front may just do his mind a world of good. Although if he can’t score against THEM it may just have the opposite effect, lol. Still think is work rates in other parts of the game are a bonus for any team.
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