The real Habana stands up
11 Jun 2012
JON CARDINELLI writes that Saturday’s performance was Bryan Habana’s strongest since 2009 and his return to form bodes well for Heyneke Meyer’s Springboks.
The Boks produced a disjointed and erratic performance in Durban, but then nobody would have been surprised. The squad had only a few days to prepare for the first Test, and team synergy was always going to be an issue.
What was expected, and what was achieved, was a victory. Going forward, the Boks will settle into their combinations, and what will encourage the new coach is that several individuals are already showing form.
Habana was one of the standouts in the first Test against England. While his contributions went a long way to winning the game and striking a psychological blow in a three-Test series, the performance was an even bigger statement in the context of his career.
Habana has been in outstanding form for the Stormers this season, and in his first Test appearance in 2012 he showed that he can still be an important player for the Boks.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised by Habana’s second coming. Having watched him struggle in 2010 and 2011, I was, like many, of the belief that he had lost that spark, pace, and game-breaking sensibility that once made him the most dangerous player on the planet.
I had watched Habana battle through the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand. I couldn’t understand why his coaches persisted with him as a starting option. Attending the pool match between South Africa and Namibia at the North Harbour Stadium, I wrote about Habana breaking the Boks’ try-scoring record. I saluted his achievement, but noted that his overall performance was tired and suggested that he would never regain the form of his earlier playing years.
Prior to that tournament, I had watched Habana produce error-riddled performances for the Stormers. The effort and the desire to succeed was always there, but the trademark anticipation and execution was gone. I couldn’t see how the next Bok coach could stick with him as a starting option.
The 2012 season has seen Habana fighting on, and it was evident even in the early stages of the Super Rugby competition that he was rekindling the flame of old. Back on Dr Sherylle Calder’s visual training programme, using the exercises that so clearly made a difference to his game between 2004 and 2007 and in 2009, Habana was starting to threaten defences again.
He managed to cut out the errors that marred his game in 2011, and was starting to find himself in positions to take the team forward and score tries. There was even an instance in a match against the Western Force where he intercepted a pass on his own 22m line and raced to the opposite end of the field to score.
His sense of timing and anticipation was again evident when he scored against the Bulls in the most recent match at Loftus Versfeld. Siya Kolisi provided a terrific pass, but Habana’s support line was crucial and his finish superb.
And then in his first Test of 2012, Habana put it all together to make a powerful statement.
The Boks went into this series against England with a simple game plan, and many feared that their talented backline would be under-utilised. On Saturday, however, Habana went looking for work. The Boks’ kick-chase tactics enjoyed mixed success, but in many instances the speed, aggression and timing of Habana put the English back three under pressure.
As the Bok pack settles in the next two Tests and the backs are provided with more front-foot ball, expect a man like Habana to receive more chances to run at the defence. He is the player the English should fear most. Later in the year, the Aussies and Kiwis will express the same sentiment.
Gio Aplon and Francois Hougaard produced some dazzling cameos at the 2011 World Cup, and may have been touted to replace the more experienced yet less potent wing options in 2012. But Habana has come into this season with a point to prove. He’s made a statement in the Super Rugby series and looks determined to make an emphatic point at Test level: he’s not done as an international player.
He set a high standard at Kings Park last Saturday, and there can be no denial that Bryan Habana, the most accurate, potent and polished version of that player, is back.
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441 Comments
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11 Jun 2012, 15:40 pm
@Atreides(Atreides)-390: absolutely… you would think by now this would have been sorted out, but amazingly this is not the case.
11 Jun 2012, 15:43 pm
@Sharksgirl(Sharksgirl)-399:
Hehehe…
Guess what skop’s next incarnation is going to be…?
The Bugler…?
Hrundi V. Bakshi…?
Birdie Num Nums…?
11 Jun 2012, 15:46 pm
@ufo(ufo)-402: Inspector Clousseau.
11 Jun 2012, 15:49 pm
@stormer in a teacup(stormer in a teacup)-403:
And now since we are becoming so chummy, perhaps you can tell me about the Great Train Robbery.
I don’t know nothing!
He who don’t know nothing, must know something, eh?
11 Jun 2012, 15:51 pm
An apt Clousseau-ism for Keo…
Anonymity is a virtue. Every fool knows that. Anonymity’s next to cleanliness and I don’t have to tell you what that’s next to…
11 Jun 2012, 16:16 pm
@Atlas(Atlas)-397: Good team.
I would go for
15. Israel Dagg
14. Julian Savea
13. Conrad Smith
12. Frans Steyn
11. Bryan Habana
10. Dan Carter
9. Will Genia
8. Kieran Read
7. Willem Alberts
6. David Pocock
5. Juandre Kruger
4. Nathan Sharpe
3. Owen Franks
2. Stephen Moore
1. Tony Woodcock
11 Jun 2012, 21:58 pm
That last try by the poms was Habana’s fault.
Came out of the line looking for an intercept. Not a good choice when you’re closing a game out.
Only necessary when you’re behind by 5 or less points in the dying minutes.
Pick your poision nd when to administer it.
Good to see him running with the ball in his hands.
11 Jun 2012, 22:17 pm
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/boks-show-england-the-scale-of-task-ahead-20120611-20554.html
Thank You Mr. Ackford. If this gets posted in the Springboks locker room, your team of imports will no doubt send you condolences card.
12 Jun 2012, 01:04 am
@Fern is not a stud,he is merely no19(Fern)-222:
Fernly, I told you to stay outta trouble. I spose what you said was overstepping the mark but hey Hurricane accepted your apology so no need to leave, I know some on here may not like it but for some strange reason I have a bit of time for you, fricken nuisance.
12 Jun 2012, 02:23 am
A bit over rated artical mate
Brainny let in the last minute English try, it was all his doing looking for individual glory , an interception which back fired. With 2 minutes to go, what the hell was he thinking, a simple mark and no chance the try would have accured. Once again he shows his talent. To big headed, needs to be dropped for a few games to catch a wake up..
12 Jun 2012, 02:24 am
@Sharksgirl(Sharksgirl)-389:
so its not just whinging Yappie males that have a monopoly on arrogance, then.
We Canadians never for 1 minute believe we ‘own’ the sport of (Ice) Hockey so why for 1 minute would whinging Yappies, 8th-placed RWC easybeats and perennial TriN wooden spooners, fool themselves in to believing they have ownership of the game of rugby ?
Have YOU played rugby for a club side before ? if not, what qualifies your opinion as worthy of consideration if you, too, dont “understand the sport” ?
12 Jun 2012, 02:26 am
@Atreides(Atreides)-391:
oh, and you dont ?!?
Ever played junior hockey ? It makes the NHL look like a tea party.
12 Jun 2012, 02:43 am
@PrickBoks going South(PrickBoks going South)-411</
What a tool.
12 Jun 2012, 02:46 am
@YoMama(YoMama)-408:
“The Springboks did not get close. They had the excuse of a new side coming together after a couple of training sessions but there was no subtlety, no imagination, nothing remotely resembling a cohesive, fluent idea of how to play the game.”.
Compared with Heyneke Moaner who said his PrickBoks were “‘brilliant….awesome…unbelievable.”
The Telegraph – experts from observing decades of 1-dimensional bore’athons – said they were “pedestrian…not much to get excited about from a Springbok point of view…..wretched, On second thoughts, it was worse than that.”.
12 Jun 2012, 02:55 am
@PrickBoks going South(PrickBoks going South)-414:
blah blah blah,i am going on keo and i am going to tell those saffas whats wrong with them today mum and every other day.I am going to get those saffas for using you mum, i promise.And not a promise like that saffa made to you mum.
12 Jun 2012, 02:57 am
With a nick like slavedriver it is no wonder you having a go at someones mother, then agin what else can you expect from gutter trash?
12 Jun 2012, 03:02 am
@PrickBoks GoingSouth(PrickBoks GoingSouth)-416:
AAAH did it bring a tear to your eye.And i laughed and laughed when you tried to take the moral high ground.
12 Jun 2012, 03:09 am
@PrickBoks GoingSouth(PrickBoks GoingSouth)-416:
so bereft of the full cerebral capacity since their birth lobotomies, the whinging Yappies default option was to parrot their immediate habitat and live as virtual Avatars in their own cuntry.
You two
@slavedriver(slavedriver)-417:
will get along just fine.
12 Jun 2012, 03:18 am
Ok so what you saying is that Slavedriver was actually close to the mark with his post?
12 Jun 2012, 03:20 am
@PrickBoks going South(PrickBoks going South)-418:
I doubt you ever will,the resentment is set deep and it is obviously affecting your daily life.There are people out there that can help you with your problems.
12 Jun 2012, 03:28 am
@PrickBoks GoingSouth(PrickBoks GoingSouth)-419:
Thats what they are saying
12 Jun 2012, 04:29 am
Ahh yes and then there are the stats…
Habana attempted 4 tackles, missing 2, with 1 ineffective and making a full 1 in 72 minutes of rugby. I just wonder if we can afford his brilliance against NZ and Oz…
12 Jun 2012, 04:57 am
@PrickBoks GoingSouth(PrickBoks GoingSouth)-419:
it was barely decipherable as a modern language, let alone english. Maybe his birth surgeon extracted a little too much lobe ?
12 Jun 2012, 05:14 am
@slavedriver(slavedriver)-420:
Talking of ‘resentment’, what is it about the whinging Yappie psyche (allowing, of course, for whats left after the birth lobotomies), that fosters a default option that never gives credit to the opposition when they, inevitably, emerge as victors ?
One theory suggests that after decades of hometown referees inflating the locals own sense of self-worth, and being in such total control of the domestic environment that visiting teams can be poisoned, gouged and harassed with total impunity, that the whinging Yappies have a complete inability to accept that the result is no longer a controlled conclusion.
Just a theory, mind you. Thats just what they are saying.
12 Jun 2012, 07:07 am
@YoMama(YoMama)-407: Game was closed out, Bud. We were 10 points up and the hooter had sounded.
12 Jun 2012, 07:09 am
@PrickBoks going South(PrickBoks going South)-424: They being the voices in your head,eh?
12 Jun 2012, 09:30 am
@PrickBoks going South(PrickBoks going South)-424:
And on we go,same old same old.Same drivel coming out of your gob daily.Resentful little tool with mummy issues.BOOHOO the saffas have upset me and i am going to moan on a saffa sight daily.How big of you dipstick.
12 Jun 2012, 10:50 am
@PrickBoks going South(PrickBoks going South)-412: Bunch of over-padded fairies on skates with sticks? Whatever…only thing they’re missing are pink tutus. Look mom I can skate backwards, wheeeeee…. lol
12 Jun 2012, 13:18 pm
@Atreides(Atreides)-428:
Clearly youre an ignoramus so no point in trying to teach anyone so obviously handicapped.
See the hit on Scuderi in the Stanley Cup Finals last pm ?
12 Jun 2012, 13:20 pm
@slavedriver(slavedriver)-427:
a whinging Yappie
“sight” ?!?
Funnily enough, noone is accusing the whinging Yappies having it.
12 Jun 2012, 13:26 pm
@stormer in a teacup(stormer in a teacup)-426:
No, its what everyone knows.
Noone to protect the PrickBoks anymore, thats why theyve gone from a winning record vs allcomers under Afrikunter refs to losing to Scotland, Ireland, Saracens…and being schooled by Wallabies, All Blacks and France. Not ‘voices in head’ but ‘stats in the record books’. Fact.
12 Jun 2012, 13:28 pm
@Atreides(Atreides)-428:
“tutus”
isnt that standard issue playing kit for the PrickBok Gouging Championships ?
12 Jun 2012, 13:30 pm
@PrickBoks going South(PrickBoks going South)-430:
whinging about us on a daily basis.Pot and kettle dimwit.
12 Jun 2012, 13:34 pm
@PrickBoks going South(PrickBoks going South)-432:
snivel snivel little prick.Remember to wipe your hands before you touch the computer again.
12 Jun 2012, 13:39 pm
@slavedriver(slavedriver)-433:
death threats next. When in Rome.
12 Jun 2012, 13:44 pm
@PrickBoks going South(PrickBoks going South)-435:
You must make your mum so proud.Sitting up there in your room all day getting those nasty saffas for her.Good on you dimwit.
12 Jun 2012, 13:57 pm
@PrickBoks going South(PrickBoks going South)-431: It’s what everyone knows now is it? Just a while ago you claimed it was just a theory. Try to temper your enthusiasm for pretending to speak on behalf of others. You just don’t have the mandate or the argument Moose. Just a theory or maybe it’s something that everyone knows.
12 Jun 2012, 13:58 pm
@slavedriver(slavedriver)-436:
You only react to what you know is the truth because lies are simple to ignore. Even for a lobotomized loser. Like you.
12 Jun 2012, 14:04 pm
@stormer in a teacup(stormer in a teacup)-437:
Moose.
Moose – thats clever, how long did that take you, Aryan Supremist ?
12 Jun 2012, 14:12 pm
@PrickBoks going South(PrickBoks going South)-439: Didn’t take long at all. They’re all saying it. Oh wait. Maybe it’s just a theory.
12 Jun 2012, 23:36 pm
@PrickBoks going South(PrickBoks going South)-438:
Why are you reacting then loser.I think you need to go and look up lobotomy and see where most procedures have been done you canadian twat.Off of wikepedia,Ottawas lobotomies only dropped after the arrival of an antipsychotic drug.Who is the one tying to get away from his heritage you lobotomized loser or are you just on the drug.So they might not have cured you,just keeping you going.Quick go and take your pill loser.
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