Habana’s main mission

Habana’s main mission

6 Jun 2012

RYAN VREDE writes that while many in a youthful Springboks’ squad want to prove they have the aptitude for Test rugby, Bryan Habana wants to prove to himself that he still has it.

Habana doesn’t shy away from the issue of his poor form prior to the start of the current Super Rugby campaign – a nightmarish passage that began around 2010 and gradually descended. At the time he certainly had a sense that he was playing below the standard he sets (in Tests in particular), but couldn’t comprehend the intense criticism. Time has given him perspective.

He understands he raised the bar of expectation with his showings between 2004 and 2007, a period in which he scored 30 tries in 36 Tests and became the IRB’s Player of the Year off the back of irresistible form at the World Cup. But this expectation felt unrealistic for him at times, and on the evidence of his performances, the harder he tried (and he never lacked for effort) the greater his struggle became.

Just before the 2011 Tri-Nations, Heyneke Meyer, then in his capacity as Bulls director of rugby, told keo.co.za: ‘It’s like being stuck in quicksand. The more you fight, the deeper you sink. I’ve seen it happen to many players.

‘It’s not my place to comment on Bryan because I don’t know the full picture – what’s happening in his personal life and so on – but generally the players I’ve seen recover from those situations have done so when they’ve rediscovered a natural enjoyment of the game again. How he gets to that point is for him and his coaches to determine.’

That enjoyment seems to have returned with greater on-field success, and the more he enjoys it the better he plays. A vicious cycle has given way to a positive one.

‘Having achieved what I have, the pressure was always going to be on me to perform [at a consistently high standard]. I’ve been a player that has been able to make a differences in matches. The most disappointing thing to come out of the last 12-month period was the amount of individual errors I continually made,’ Habana says.

‘It was something that wasn’t in my game before. I had to go away and look at the reasons for this and rectify them [Habana has since worked with world-renowned visual skills coach Sherylle Calder]. I was fortunate to have a coaching team and team-mates that backed me. No matter whether I believed in myself or not, I constantly had that support structure. Coming off 2011 I had to go back and see where I was as a player and establish what I wanted to achieve.’

However, Habana, who turns 29 in a fortnight, stressed that his Super Rugby form was merely a glimpse of the standard he expects of himself.

‘I wouldn’t call what I’m producing now good form because I’m not where I want to be. There’s a lot more that I want to achieve. It’s been a good start but there’s a lot more for me,’ he offered.

A winger will always be measured primarily by the number of tries he scores and with what regularity he scores them. There are widely held concerns that with the Springboks’ pragmatic game plan Habana won’t see much of the ball. Habana doesn’t share that pessimism.

‘I see our game plan the same way I saw it nine years ago. Everyone told me going from the Lions to the Bulls was going to make me a worse players because of the perceived 10-man style. Then I became part if the most successful South African franchise in Super Rugby. As players we understand what we’re trying to achieve and believe in the structures.’

This Test season will be one of the defining ones in Habana’s career. If his torrid form endures, his mentor Meyer is unlikely to be as charitable with the No 11 shirt as his predecessor Peter de Villiers was. But I sense it won’t. I sense Habana is set for a statement season. Here’s hoping that sense isn’t misplaced. Here’s hoping that statement is: ‘I’m back’.

By Ryan Vrede, in Durban

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368 Comments

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  • 51.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:14 am

    @stormersboy(stormersboy)-47:

    LOL

    @houston, we have a problem…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-48:

    Must a Bull always come and spoil the party! When when when…

  • 52.ufo: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:14 am

    @Jeraldjay(Jeraldjay)-34:

    remember seeing him signing autographs at newlands just after he moved down here… nearly two and a half hours after the game he was the only player there… still giving every fan who wanted a signature or photograph their turn… all with patience, humility and sincere enthusiasm…

    of course people will say he has to do that… but he doesn’t… other players are infamous for their stand-offish attitudes…

  • 53.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:15 am

    @>^..^< katman(katman)-50:

    No one here has seen the team Katerman! Please share… ;)

  • 54.houston, we have a problem...: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:15 am

    dear western province,

    please keep your panties dry when the starting team is announced later today, ladies.

    regards,
    a bok supporter.

  • 55.stormersboy: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:16 am

    @>^..^< katman(katman)-50: On the starting 15 yes. 90% of that picked itself.

    Us crybabies are moaning about the squad not the team.

  • 56.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:17 am

    @houston, we have a problem…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-54:

    Dawn!!! Talk to this man please!

  • 57.houston, we have a problem...: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:19 am

    @Gumboots(Gumboots)-51:
    keep your boots on, it was a helluva try. complete solo effort.
    i dont think he could ever do that again, age and weight is not on his side anymore.

  • 58.>^..^< katman: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:20 am

    @Gumboots(Gumboots)-53: Neither have I. I’m asking whether, after a 5 days of arguing, we’ve all reached agreement on the team, with only 6, 7 ,8 and 15 still up for debate.

    In other words…

    Beast, Bismarck, Jannie, Eben, Juandre, Coetzee???, Alberts??? Spies???, Hougaard, M Steyn, Habana, F Steyn, De Villiers, Petersen, Kirchner???

  • 59.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:20 am

    @houston, we have a problem…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-57:

    You are so itchy today! PMT?

  • 60.viewer: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:20 am

    So habana will be 32 by the time of the next WC. He’ll only make it if HM pulls a PdV on us. Wing play is a young mans game. Didn’t the Reds just give a debut to an 18 year old

  • 61.>^..^< katman: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:22 am

    @stormersboy(stormersboy)-55: It wouldn’t be a week in SA if you lot weren’t crying about something. Conservative estimates reckon that around 60% of you cried because of the Queen’s diamond jubilee.

  • 62.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:22 am

    @>^..^< katman(katman)-58:

    15 Lambie
    6 Coetzee
    7 Alberts
    8 Keegan

    Not questions about it… Happy! :lol:

  • 63.the artist formerly known as gunther: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:22 am

    So what say the Stormerpoms today?

    No change?

    Roger that.
    :lol:

  • 64.Tacitus: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:22 am

    @>^..^< katman(katman)-58:

    Wait for the Boks to start winning.

    They’ll be on the bandwagon soon enough. Albeit all grumpy and sulky like.

  • 65.houston, we have a problem...: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:23 am

    @>^..^< katman(katman)-58:
    i believe eben is still iffy, in which case they hould not play him. maybe give him an impact role at best or a 15 cameo in the last 1/4.

    @Gumboots(Gumboots)-59:
    not at all. just saying it was probably his best try ever.
    will look for the video.

  • 66.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:23 am

    @>^..^< katman(katman)-61:

    You should have been at Loftus on Saturday mate. That is what I called crying…

    Sorry Dawn.

  • 67.viewer: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:24 am

    Dawn will be named the No 4 lock enforcer. Touchy, touchy at the moment

  • 68.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:25 am

    @houston, we have a problem…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-65:

    Video? Beta or VHS?

  • 69.houston, we have a problem...: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:26 am

    @Tacitus(Deucalion)-64:
    they’ll crow about jeans ‘commanding leadership’ on the field.
    i smell another plod in the making.

  • 70.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:26 am

    @Tacitus(Deucalion)-64:

    That would be wonderbull Tac!

  • 71.ufo: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:26 am

    can’t see there being any major objections… pretty much done and dusted…

  • 72.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:28 am

    @houston, we have a problem…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-69:

    Jeans? Since when is she leading? You play in pink and now you talk pink…

  • 73.houston, we have a problem...: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:28 am

    @houston, we have a problem…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-65:

    15 minute

  • 74.>^..^< katman: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:28 am

    @houston, we have a problem…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-69: This Jean captaincy thing has had an unexpected effect in Pretoria. Suddenly they all saw his name in print for the first time, and most of them have started saying his name like a pair of Levis.

  • 75.Tacitus: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:29 am

    @houston, we have a problem…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-69:

    I’m actually warming towards Jean. Seems like a humble guy with lots of passion for the Boks.

    I think he’ll make a pretty good captain.

    And of course, Heyneke picked him so that’s good enough for me.

  • 76.>^..^< katman: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:29 am

    @Tacitus(Deucalion)-64: After which they’ll start speculating on which Bulls players to buy. This is not a new script.

  • 77.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:30 am

    @houston, we have a problem…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-73:

    You been sniffing today mate? You speaking in tongues…

    @>^..^< katman(katman)-74:

    Hilarious…

  • 78.The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:30 am

    @Gumboots(Gumboots)-59: Nope. I think it’s BMT, or rather the Bulls lack of it on Saturday.

  • 79.the artist formerly known as gunther: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:31 am

    Jeanpant de Villiers.

  • 80.viewer: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:31 am

    He scored a try with his first ever touch of the ball in a Test vs England @ Twicks in 2004. Ran past a weak tackle by charlie hodgson. Jason Robinson was Eng captain that day. The 2004 – 2007 version of BH – I don’t know if SA will produce another wing like that in this lifetime

  • 81.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:31 am

    @Tacitus(Deucalion)-75:

    You really getting soft Tac! You are so nice with that sensitive side.

  • 82.Tacitus: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:31 am

    Coming back to the squad, I think Hougaard was brutally exposed as an inadequate scrumhalf on Saturday.

    He reminded me a bit of that scrumhalf from the Baby Boks, trying to play a game he is not really skilled enough to implement.

    Hougaard should be on the wing, with Vermaak or Pienaar at 9. Especially if we’re going to play a kicking game in the rain on Saturday.

  • 83.>^..^< katman: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:35 am

    @Tacitus(Deucalion)-82: Vermaak is not a great kicker. He’s good at sniping around the fringes and his decision making is great, but his tactical kicking is not the best.

  • 84.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:35 am

    @Tacitus(Deucalion)-82:

    Which wing would he replace? Habanna? They are calling him the Rolls Royce of Rugby – imagine CT if that happens…

  • 85.ufo: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:36 am

    @the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-79:

    hehehe…

    that’s gonna stick…

  • 86.the artist formerly known as gunther: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:37 am

    @Tacitus(Deucalion)-75:

    he’s got quite a decent sense of humour as well.

    expect him to steal Keegan Daniel’s vajazzler and hide it in Beast’s washbag.

  • 87.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:38 am

    @>^..^< katman(katman)-83:

    There is method in his madness! Two more Bulls in the starting 15…

  • 88.Tacitus: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:38 am

    @Gumboots(Gumboots)-84:

    Yes he should replace Habana.

    But of course that would result in tyre burning and blockaded streets in the Western Cape.

  • 89.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:39 am

    @Tacitus(Deucalion)-88:

    :lol:

  • 90.viewer: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:40 am

    Jeez Tac, you really are in a happy space at the moment, “warming up to Jean”. So you’re happy that a Stormer is captain of nearly one half of the Bulls 2012 SR squad

    Katman , JdV is a Levi’s 501 jean (the entry level Levi’s). Once bought a pair for 499 Rand at Edgars

  • 91.Cambridge: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:40 am

    Within two year the bokke will be unstoppabull!

  • 92.Tacitus: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:40 am

    @>^..^< katman(katman)-83:

    Pienaar then.

    But Hougaard’s tactical kicking is so slow, and his passing game so predictable.

    He is a great athlete, but his feel for the game is nowhere near Du Preez’s level.

  • 93.the artist formerly known as gunther: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:40 am

    @ufo(ufo)-85:

    like a pair of Bod’s stovepipes.

  • 94.>^..^< katman: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:41 am

    @Tacitus(Deucalion)-88: Helen Zille would personally lead a protest march.

  • 95.houston, we have a problem...: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:42 am

    @Gumboots(Gumboots)-68:
    he is your player.
    forgive me for complimenting him.

  • 96.the artist formerly known as gunther: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:42 am

    @Tacitus(Deucalion)-92:

    I would like to think that the legend would be spending some time with Hougaard in the coming weeks working on that aspect of his game.

  • 97.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:43 am

    @houston, we have a problem…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-95:

    Forgiven…

  • 98.ufo: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:43 am

    @the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-93:

    rolled up at the ends above his white winkelpickers…

  • 99.>^..^< katman: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:43 am

    @viewer(viewer)-90: On you Club Card, you’re actually still paying off the full R1100. Hope you still have them.

  • 100.Gumboots: Reply to this comment
    6 Jun 2012, 09:43 am

    @the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-96:

    Gareth Edwards in the Bok set-up?

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