Habana hits back
19 Jun 2012
Bryan Habana has answered his critics in the best possible way this season – through his performances on the field.
After a disappointing 2011, Habana re-emerged in the 2012 Super Rugby competition as one of the form wings and returned to the national set-up rejuvenated and renewed. He turned in consistent showings for the Stormers, solid performances shot through with a characteristic crowd-raising brilliance. And if the man himself is to be believed, that was just a starting point.
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‘I’ve gone back to basics,’ he says in the new issue of SA Rugby magazine. ‘I’ve found myself in the right place at the right time, whereas in the past year or two maybe I wasn’t in that kind of position.
‘When things aren’t going your way, you tend to overwork yourself. You know you should allow the ball to come to you in space, but when it doesn’t, you go looking for it, sometimes unnecessarily. This season, certain things have made all the difference.’
Habana goes on to explain what those things are, while Stormers attack coach Robbie Fleck provides some insight into Habana’s struggles last year.
The winger also talks about what it’s like working with Heyneke Meyer, competition for the Bok No 11 jersey and mentoring tomorrow’s stars.
Also in the new issue:
Adriaan Strauss – page 58
– Keo on why the Kings should not have appointed a Kiwi coach
– How Cheetahs hooker Adriaan Strauss powered his way into Springbok contention
– The Bulls have given JJ Engelbrecht the opportunities he was denied at the Stormers
– Tim Whitehead has helped to solve the Sharks’ problems in midfield
– Former France prop Pieter de Villiers on how he got into coaching, the technical aspects of the scrum, and why it is such an important part of the game
– A once-proud New Zealand franchise has fallen on hard times. The big question is: Can the Blues find a way back?
– In his most revealing interview since winning the World Cup, Graham Henry talks about the pressures of the All Blacks job, the effect it had on his family, and what he’s up to now
JJ Engelbrecht – page 64
– Wallabies captain David Pocock is not your average rugby player
– Ruan Pienaar had an outstanding season for Ulster
– Former Free State prop Daniel Kotze has become the cornerstone of the Clermont scrum
– Gary Gold on his short stint at Newcastle, the challenge he faces at Bath, and the issue that fractured his relationship with Peter de Villiers
– The Blitzboks‘ poor World Series campaign highlighted flaws in the national sevens system
– All professional rugby players should have a post-retirement plan
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318 Comments
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19 Jun 2012, 10:18 am
@David(David)-49:
oh right so why is he in the Bokke team then, nobody rates him except Gunther, he doesn’t set up or score tries and the opposition runs through him, how does that work then?
19 Jun 2012, 10:18 am
@toulon says(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-16:
Very funny! So no individuality anymore?
Everyone should look the same?
19 Jun 2012, 10:20 am
there’s no way we can play wynand versus nonu or sbw…just think crusaders 27 – bulls 0
nuff said.
19 Jun 2012, 10:21 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-51: If you can unearth the answer to that question……
19 Jun 2012, 10:22 am
Boks have faith in Olivier
Cape Town – Wynand Olivier looks likely to start at inside centre for the Springboks in the third and final Test against England in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Bok coach Heyneke Meyer is expected to pick the Bulls centre in the No 12 jersey as Frans Steyn is unavailable because he is getting married.
Olivier was a largely unpopular choice amongst South African rugby fans when Meyer named his Springbok squad for the England series but the Bok management has faith in the player’s capabilities.
“Wynand was our top defender when he came on (during last week’s Test in Johannesburg),” defence coach John McFarland told Die Burger.
McFarland was also impressed with how Olivier defended against giant 110kg English centre, Manu Tuilagi, who storms towards the flyhalf/inside centre channel. Olivier played a solid 35 minutes in the second half.
Fullback Patrick Lambie (ankle) and flank Willem Alberts (knee) appear to be the only major injury concerns for Meyer. Both underwent scans on Monday morning and they’ll be given until Wednesday to prove their fitness.
Gio Aplon trained at fullback in the shadow team with Jacques Potgieter working on the flank in the place of Alberts.
The Stormers’ Joe Pietersen was also called up on Monday to provide cover at fullback.
19 Jun 2012, 10:23 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-53: Oh mannnnnnnnnnnn. And Wynand’s fans to this day insist he ‘slipped’ whilst trying to tame the Sonny Bill.
19 Jun 2012, 10:24 am
just asking mate.
will england make him look good in the same way the paddies made your lot decent?
19 Jun 2012, 10:26 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-40: He doesnt say he was rubbish, he says that things didnt go his way no matter how hard he tried.
He was still putting in the hard yards on attack and defence. Things just didnt click for him in terms of breaking lines and scoring tries.
19 Jun 2012, 10:30 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-51: the same reason piri is in the all black team when most in new zealand know he is s.hit and fat.
19 Jun 2012, 10:30 am
@Robzim(Robzim)-18:
well he has been linked to louis fish.
@>^..^< katman(katman)-21:
marler would fit right in with the trance/hippy crowd
@Atreides(Atreides)-23:
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-26:
hahahahaha
lmao
@Te Rangatira(Te Rangatira)-32:
ja, i like it.
the boks must go back to their old school ‘you are here and we are going to moer you’ image as a team, when visiting teams do a tour to the republic.
especially for the ab’s
@David(David)-33:
19 Jun 2012, 10:32 am
“Wynand was our top defender when he came on”
Wow! but i thought Coetzee was our top defender.
19 Jun 2012, 10:32 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-53:
Kak man.
19 Jun 2012, 10:33 am
@Dawn(Dawn)-52:
ag no not at all, dawn.
i just want them to look clean cut and respectable and a little bit like good, upright christianly men of good moral character (and no, they do not have to actually be christian).
you know, honestt salt of the earth types but who will give their lives for the nations pride…
19 Jun 2012, 10:33 am
@Unplugged(Unplugged)-55: what the hell did he on attack McCloseland?
19 Jun 2012, 10:34 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-64: do
19 Jun 2012, 10:35 am
@Sasuke(Sasuke)-58: and that means what exactly, that he was styling? hahahaha
19 Jun 2012, 10:36 am
tac’s here…
you guys are in trouble now!
19 Jun 2012, 10:37 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-64: Let hope he is our “top defender” again this Saturday! Thats all he can do.
19 Jun 2012, 10:38 am
Good that Habanero is back, starting to actually play decent rugby again. Other than being caught by the England Pirelli tyres no 8 after being put in the clear by his inside backs, he played well if not spectacular the last game out. His first test definitely showed glimpses of the Habanero of old…
But Brian needs to score tries – he was one of the most devastating finishers the world of rugby has ever seen, 8 tries in a RWC bares witness to this. If he can be 80% as good then Bok rugby can be more than happy. If not then maybe he needs to make way for the younger strike runners of the future like Mvovo or Rhule.
He is there to score tries, finish backline moves, counterattack and chase… But scoring is primary. And he needs to do this regularly.
19 Jun 2012, 10:42 am
Pity that Frans did not invite Zane and Wynand to his wedding.
19 Jun 2012, 10:43 am
ja everyone put away any “Wp Tendancies”, anti Heinecke (and by extension anti Bull, anti Springbok, and all that is good and proper in South Africa) sentiment…..
The defender of the gravitas enriched is in the house….
19 Jun 2012, 10:44 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-45:
couldn’t have said it better.
“they had an edge to them’..hahaha
like an ‘its time to revert to type and go for the desperation dirty play’ type of edge.
ab’s were kakking themselves so funny to watch.
reechee’s dirty little knee in the back of a player miles from the play went unpunished of course.
19 Jun 2012, 10:45 am
@Unplugged(Unplugged)-70: I would prefer it if Werner Kruger got a late ‘best man’ invite.
19 Jun 2012, 10:46 am
but at least they got blow up for some of their dirty play for a change.
19 Jun 2012, 10:47 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.(The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food)-73: And Spies as a bridesmaid!
19 Jun 2012, 10:48 am
its pretty obvious that the most disliked players in the boks team are / and have always been bulls players.
get used to it girls….
they are here to stay.
19 Jun 2012, 10:56 am
its time to get behind the boks.
2 down and 10 more to go for the year.
lets hope they get a minimum 90%
19 Jun 2012, 10:57 am
@toulon says(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-76: really? were you on the blog under another nic in 2008 when adi & ricky were playing?
victimhood doesn’t suit you
19 Jun 2012, 11:03 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-78: Ricky was never hated… He was ridiculed though… Fark me the fat little farker was like a stroppy warthog… A first prize for ridicule… just like Piri piri Weepu now.
19 Jun 2012, 11:04 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-78:
read through the posts transie.
its mostly nasty insults about the bulls players in the current bok squad.
19 Jun 2012, 11:10 am
Why have Habana in such a kak pose in that picture?
He looks like he’s about to join the London riots.
19 Jun 2012, 11:12 am
@toulon says(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-76: Nah man. Most only have good things to say about the majority of Bulls players, past and present. There are a few deserving of criticism and they are getting it – i.e. Kruger hasn’t sorted out his bind – he has had more than enough time to do it along with his specialist coaches and mentors – FAIL for Kruger. Ditto for Spies and Olivier, who have been mediocre for so long that when they ACTUALLY have an OK game( not great, but OK) people go nuts and hail them as being back in form and worthy Boks.
19 Jun 2012, 11:13 am
Bulls players will be slowly phased out once HM realises the error of his ways lol. If it weren’t for injuries to certain Stormers players I’m very sure the Bulls contingent would have been thin in the squad.
19 Jun 2012, 11:18 am
Frans is a “Frans” to have arranged his wedding on the same day as a test match. As much as I think he’s overhyped he is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than Timo!
19 Jun 2012, 11:23 am
@Pee Wee(Pee Wee)-84: He better not plan his honeymoon during the 4 Nations.
19 Jun 2012, 11:25 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-81: Ja it’s racist, innit?
19 Jun 2012, 11:28 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-86:
Did you see Stormerforlife1′s human rights post last night? One of my all time highlights in the history of this blog.
He said it is downright unconstitutional for Heyneke to discriminate against players based on their size.
Hehehe. So there you have it.
The coach is infringing on your human right to equality if he doesn’t rate you.
19 Jun 2012, 11:36 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-87: Seriously? I’m sure there was some kind of mitigating context you’re not mentioning here.
But still, it’s the coach’s prerogative to select the shape and size he needs. How about not being selected because the coach unfairly thinks you’re too old? Or too fat? Or not fast enough? Slow people have rights too.
Next we’ll have people clamouring for players’ constitutional rights to be selected based on their race. Hang on, why does that sound so familiar?
19 Jun 2012, 11:37 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-87:
what about poodles rights?
19 Jun 2012, 11:44 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.(The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food)-82:
fair enough.
many players have been worthy of criticism from all unions.
19 Jun 2012, 11:47 am
@toulon says(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-80: this is what you said: “its pretty obvious that the most disliked players in the boks team are / and have always been bulls players.”
and i am telling you, you are lying!
percy was not a bulls player when he was booed by bok fans
adi was not a bulls player when he was hated on this blog
neither was ricky when he was called “warthog on this blog..
peel off the victimhood cloak dude tl tl tl
19 Jun 2012, 11:50 am
@toulon says(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-90: Of course. It’s just ‘unfortunate’ for the Bulls fans that the entire Bulls squad (bar Sadie, Ndugane, and Wynie Strydom) are in the Bok setup, so by sheer virtue of their numbers they are going to get more grief than say, Stormers, Lions or Cheetahs players.
Sharks and Bulls players = majority, which in turn = majority of the grief as well.
19 Jun 2012, 11:55 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-88:
Here’s his full post, unedited:
”So ,you wanna tell us that ‘little guys’ as you cal them have no test future with Meyer at the helm?It’s a crying shame for a national coach to publicy come out and make a statement like that and in the process destroys the aspirations of quite a few very good players,not to say youngster who fails Meyer’s hight and mass criteria.This is down right disgraceful if not unconstitutional and i hope the sports minister monitors this development very closely.”
So there you have it, in all it’s mindblowing glory.
19 Jun 2012, 12:02 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-93: Ha ha, I can just imagine some militant constitutional law expert, whose son happens to be a 5 foot 4 aspiring outside centre, spitting out his weetbix when he reads that. I’m pretty sure Cheeky Watson has already started filing papers.
19 Jun 2012, 12:02 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-93:
I have seen a lot of kak written on this blog, but that is the funniest of them all.
19 Jun 2012, 12:04 pm
@toulon says(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-80:
Just about the Bulls players who don’t deserve to be there CURRENTLY…and Kankowski of course.
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-93:
A tongue in cheek comment if ever there was one.
19 Jun 2012, 12:07 pm
JJ Engelbrecht astute signing…..Wow talk about unsubstantiated…Hype machine 101,guess it had to be him since the person that article was SUPPOSEd to go to originally hasn’t done fckall…Johan Sadie.
how about writing an article on Siya Kolisi,big splash spread,or on the great form Mvovo has been leading try scorers in SA,or reasons why Ashkey Johnson is leaving SA-or article on Marcel Coetzee his rise from obscurity having gone to Port Natal not a premier rugby school in Kzn to Collegians tobig TIME…
19 Jun 2012, 12:09 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-97:
You fully understand who you are asking to do this hey?
19 Jun 2012, 12:10 pm
The Habanero (together with Lomu), is probably the best wingers in the modern game ever produced.
In their prime, they had different means of attack;
Habs – smokes you.
Lomu – steamrolls you.
With Brian edging the Tongan on defence and work rate.
RESPECT to both.
Rupeni comes closest.
And a host of NZ’s (and 1 Welshman) at their heels.
19 Jun 2012, 12:12 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-97: There was an article on Siya 2 editions back I think? Basically it was an essay as to why Siya should not be put in a Bok jersey too early – go figure.
If you want decent Siya coverage, take a look at this.
http://stormersmagazine.com/editions/june2012/mag/#page0
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