White lauds Monty magic
Percy Montgomery’s contribution to Springbok rugby should see him inducted into the Hall of Fame, says Jake White.
The Bok fullback eclipsed Jannie de Beer’s national record when he kicked his 35th point in the dying seconds of Wednesday’s Test. CJ van der Linde crossed the line for South Africa’s 15th try and a score exceeding 100, but the really impressive feat was the conversion that claimed yet another national milestone for Montgomery.
There was a lot of build up to a Test billed as a farewell to Montgomery and fellow veteran Os du Randt. At the end of the post-match interviews, SA Rugby acknowledged the efforts of these long-standing servants of the game.
White was glad for the sentiment, but feels it may hard to really express how valuable these players are to the team.
“I don’t think South Africa really appreciate what it means to have Percy Montgomery in the side,” he said. “He broke the record against Namibia and he will break the record for the most caps [89] in the coming World Cup.
“He’s made it clear to me he’s available and he wanted to make it public that he is not retiring. He will be playing for Perpignan next year but still wants to play for the Springboks.”
The 86-Test stalwart was part of the Bok side of 1997 and 1998 who equalled the world record for 17 successive wins. He has also been involved in two successful Tri-Nations campaigns, one in 1998 and the other under White in 2004.
Du Randt has a World Cup-winners medal and was also an integral part of White’s successful Tri-Nations team. Even if the pair don’t enjoy similar success in France, White believes they have done enough to be written into rugby history as two of the greats.
“Joost [van der Westhuizen] was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame and I think these two guys are also destined to feature there. Percy has broken so many records and Os would be the first choice for many people’s World XV. He is the most capped loosehead and has been a wonderful asset to this country.”
By Jon Cardinelli
August 16th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Greatest13ever,#49.
I agree 100%
Another Aussie, Matt Bourke was better than average as well.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
the analogy betw Monty and Hewson is a valid one. Hewson was very skilled, a superb kicker and attacker. However he refused to tackle and was frail under the garryowen. He was in competition for the FB jersey with the current Canterbury coach, Robbie Deans. Deans was also a magnificent kicker (there was even a pop single released “…pull your boots on Robbie…”) and heroic on defence/high-ball but he never set the field on fire with attacking runs. You cannae have everything.
Which is why only those that DO have everything – Cullen, Joubert, Blanco – should be inducted in to any Hall Of Fame, not the also-rans. Monty, no doubt, is a fine player. But would have played 80 Tests if there had been tougher competition for his position ?
As for Gavin Hastings, he was a trememdous beast of a player. Brave, a huge boot, an attacking instinct and was inspirational. No, he couldnt attack like Andy Irvine. Nor could he outpace many wingers but he certainly had a great all-round package.
After the 93 Lions tour, he stayed on in NZ together with brother Scott and played club rugby in Auckland. They became legends on the club social scene that Winter, particularly among the women. In particular, Gavin was known as the ‘Caber’.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Ricane,
“Allan woolly gloves Hewson”.
When Paramata-Plimerton get a player that good you can scoff.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
BigRed,
Now there’s a name………..could be a legend among the fairer *** yourself Red.
(Good post by the way)
August 16th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
cracking post BigRed.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
best fullbacks I have seen play in my life
01.Christian Cullen (in 1996..was a freak!)
02.Johan Heunis (in 1986..soo composed)
03.Gavin Hastings(1991..stonewall defence)
04.Serge Blanco(1988..pure magic)
05.Chris Lathem(2003-6..pure unpredictability)
August 16th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Hey Cane.
I didn’t know Hewson was your hero.
I only really have vague memories
-the gloves
-cringing as he got absolutely flattened whie touring SA
-some amazing sideline conversions using the famous Athletic Park Southerly.
Paremata Plim doesn’t have anyone to compare yet, although my 4 year old might be the next Hewson- he’s a skinny enough wee fellow!
August 16th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
special mention
Calla Scholtz..very much same abilities as Monty but without Percy’s habit of being soo damm eractic at times.
Thinus Delport..when he started playing 15 in bok jersey, he was the closest thing we had to a Cullen.
Marty Roebuck..second best Aussie fullback I have ever seen. had the safest pair of hands under the high ball. best tackler in a 15 jersey I have seen.
August 16th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
the analogy with Niel Jenkins was an excellent one. Could thread the eye of a needle with a footy ball but, boy, was he ***** ! How on Earth he survived so long despite the Welsh and their sparkling history with no10s ???
I make a similar comparison with the Irish. They have selected Ronan O’Gara for many years and he has successfully kicked his pens and hoofed the ball in to the corners for field position. And Ireland have risen the Rankings. So, I suppose, that makes him a ‘Great’ ?
Well David Humprheys was a superior no10, no doubt. He was small but threw his body around with complete disregard. He always took the ball to the line and committed tacklers and I saw him win games on his own with wonderfully deft hands. He was also a very good placekicker.
O’Gara is purely a kicker. He is almost cowardly on the ball with oncoming tacklers and has thrown more hospital-passes than even Hewson did.
I can only imagine the attacking force Ireland may have become with BOD and D’Arcy outside Humphreys.
Similarly, if the Bokke had made better use of a player like Russell at FB over the years then they wouldnt have had to rely so much on Habannas intercepts. OK, Russell was by no means the finished article, but where was the competition coming from to force Monty to improve the weak areas of his game ? I cant believe any player with 80caps has survived without learning those fundamentals.
August 16th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
BigRed totally agree with you.
Irish hopes soo much rest on O’Gara dictating play
destroy him and Irish fall like dominos. Same with
England(Wilkinson), NZ(Carter,McCall),Australia(Larkham,Gregan).
Brent Russell at fullback would still be better then Monty(who I feel is not a big game player)
and Jake chose Fontein over Russell this year??
August 16th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Is Monty really THAT suspect underneath the high ball guys ??
August 16th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
#61 yes..tends to panic when behind on the scoreboard.
August 16th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Russell was a magic player. Rest assured, attacking-minded teams like Aus and NZ would have found a role for him.
NZ can still win the RWC if DC goes down. Nic Evans is classy and in terms of his backline management, would be an acceptable option. McCaw being injured would cause problems however – he is unrivalled at the breakdown which is where ABs score most of their counter-attacking tries from. His understudy, Masoe, is incredibly overrated. Meanwhile, Marty Holah watches from afar….
The punter who described Thinus Delport as Cullen’esque and that Marty Roebuck was worthy of the jersey must be taking the brown acid. Even Jimi Hendrix knew not to take the brown acid. Provincial players the both of em.
August 16th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
I have a chip on my shoulder. I am a South African Patriot. I would go to war and die for SA if I had to. This is Africa and it flows through my veins. I am also a New Zealand rugby supporter. Now before you jump down my throat with your insults, consider for one second what it must be like to have walked in my shoes and why I should stop being bitter. I have a five year old son, whom I took to watch the boks last night, because he, at his tender age, loves this country and idolises the boks. He does not have to live with the oppressive memories that I have. More importantly he does not have to tolerate being prejudiced against in his own homeland. Well that may be his constitutional right, but is it so in practice?
Anyways here follows the rugby post I was meaning to submit. If JW and his boks believe that 45 million people are behind this team he and everyone else who thinks so is totally in denial and living in a South Africa of their own. The arrogance to believe that they have earned this critical mass of support is underlined by their attitudes on and off the field. In April 2007 I watched The Stormers beat The Auckland Blues 33-20. The highlight of their ***** season. The Blues were most gracious in defeat, commended the Stormers and then proceeded to greet their fans and non fans by going over to them and shaking their hands personally. What great ambassadors I thought and how sporting. JW said that he appreciated the send off from the Newlands crowd for the Boks. These guys just won and Test match 105-13, albeit against lowly Namibia, and are off to represent South Africa at the World Cup but showed total lack of respect for their supporters by ducking down to the change rooms without so much wave to crowd from some of them. O the arrogance of it all, and my five year old whom I encourage to make his own decisions about who he shouts for from the stand, stood there looking totally disappointed. What a bunch of chumps!
Maybe if you were humble enough to have learnt from our shared past we may stop being deprived of having to support a bunch of New Zealand men who play for the pride of ALL their people. Then we can support our own bunch of truly patriotic South African Players, which, in parting I may add, I don’t consider you to be.
By the way I think Percy is the best there has ever been!
August 16th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
First time I saw Monty was a revelation – two steps & whack goes the ball! Where does the power/leverage come from? I was impressed.
August 16th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
#64 thank you for sharing..
as my granpa use to say to me when I
was young
“NTvl first, SA second”
August 16th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Dr Flo
your story reminded me of the blogger yesterday who yearned for the day an administrator of the likes of Louis Luyt to reign over the SARU yet again. Maybe it is easy to forget what happened yesterday when today seems so full of rubbish.
In 1994 the Springboks made their first full tour of NZ since 1981 (which was less a tour and more of a invasion) amidst incredible excitement. It mattered not whether they were a great team or not, it was enough that they were the Springboks !
They played my beloved Counties in rural Pukekohe (we lead for a few minutes – HOORAH – but faded, honourably….) and the aftermatch was held in the adjacent ‘clubrooms’ (ie gymnasium/squash club). It was more packed than Gavin Hastins kilt, everyone waiting until the Men in Green arrived, the obvious highlight for the local farmers.
In strode Louis Luyt, a giant of a man. He had a scowl on his face and looked unhappy to be there. There was not one player in sight. Luyt left within 10mins and that was it. I scurried outside with my nephew, who hadnt slept for days in all the excitement, only to see the Springbok bus depart with nary a wave between them.
Its hard to describe the disappointment I felt for my nephew let alone myself. I had cheered many great players off Counties field – Lions, Wallabies, Pumas, French – and I had collected countless signatures in my tattered book of many greats. But these were the SPRINGBOKS, the ABs greatest foes and without doubt the most special of NZs rugby tourists. And despite that blind-blow to my childhood hero, Counties Capt (and my neighbour) Andy Dalton, at the hands of Burger Geldenhys in ‘86, I still cherished everything that was Sth African rugby. I had videos of Danie Gerber that were stretched because of overuse (‘101 Great Tries’ – a SA production, I still have it).
So I saw the selfish side of SA administration that day. Id like to think that wasnt the players decision to not attend the aftermatch, as was protocol. The amateurs days were more about forming great friendships and these things can get lost in the pile of money and power that is thrown at the players and those in power. But what harm would it have done, and corresponding joy that could have been given, if Luyt had lead a few players in for a beer or the team had waved to the crowd after the Namibia match ? Clearly he did not care, going by his victory speech after the 1995 Final when he quipped his famous “…we would be the ABs in the am and the rest in the pm”.
Sheesh, it doesnt take much to make someones day now, does it ?
August 16th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
“beat”
and if you seriously think Percy was the best youve ever seen, then you never saw the ‘94 tourist, Andre Joubert. So classy, all the time in the World on the ball. Never flustered in to mistakes, a high-percentage player reeking with class. He was the star back on that touring squad.
James Small, on the contrary, seemed to go out of his way to prove himself an idiot on that tour. A talent, albeit a wasted one.
August 16th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
BigRed stick please around, you have a lot to offer on KEO.
DrFlo – I commend you letting your boy decide for himself. I also do not like that lack of acknowledgement – but maybe they can be forgiven considering the circs. Besides public relations is team management – Zola is your man to complain to. Suggest you write that exact post at SARSU – they have a well read forum. And word DOES get around.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:11 am
Monty is the wobbliest fullback in world rugby under a high ball. Always was, always will be.
September 9th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Dr.Flo – you do not know how many hours I’ve spent looking for the “101 Great tries” on the internet – I saw it years ago as a boy – and I think it’s rugby memorabillia par excellance. Please will you mail me at MarthinusV@agsa.co.za and let me know what I have to do to get the video – I would want to put it over into DVD Format – have you thought of it? I would pay handsomely for that material! Please let me know. . .anybody else who has the video – you’re welcome to mail me – please guys!! With the new quota systems active as of 2008,all we will have regarding SA rugby is memories of glory days. . .I would love nothing more than to get my hands on that video! To show my laaitie one day! Thanks guys