White lauds Monty magic
16 Aug 2007
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
71 Comments
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16 Aug 2007, 06:59 am
Keo said on 567MW Cape TAlk radio this morning that the person who gave this match last night test status should be shot !! Well , for me it exposed the cumbersome Willemse – who if he was white would not make the side . The try he scored could have been scored by Cabous vd Westhuizens granny .
The point of departure is he is supposed to be a professional . When he sees Butch aiming for a box kick , he should remain behind butch – not giving away a penalty . He did the same a few minutes later when he was set up for a try , but the pass went into touch .
Bismarck showed he is Barney’s rightful understudy and Juan Smith was impressive . Scotland will be a different proposition – judging what we saw on the weekend .
16 Aug 2007, 07:00 am
Morning Dragons. Can’t post. Gotto go.
See ya all later.
Go BIG!
16 Aug 2007, 07:28 am
morning staal; you off to check on your paradise?
never saw the game but must agree on Percy; great player
16 Aug 2007, 07:39 am
You must be kidding me, it is only the last 3 seasons that Pecy meant anything for he SA team. In the late 90′s hewas useless.
Staal where you off to so early in the morn?
16 Aug 2007, 07:57 am
Monty is a legend!!!
He will go down in our rugby history as one of the all time greats.
16 Aug 2007, 08:00 am
Monty was good in attacing moves. But as usual poor under high ball. Expect England to bomb him a lot.
16 Aug 2007, 08:00 am
I remember a deluge of comments on this site last year calling for Percy to be dropped/retired/hung-drawn-and-quartered/etc.
Good on him for persisting in spite of the barage of opposition from his adopted countrymen.
16 Aug 2007, 08:01 am
handbagslasher:
Monty was part of the squad that beat New Zealand in their own back yard,Tri Nations 97 or 98 can’t remember.
He was good before he went overseas , but he has been a better player since he came back for sure
16 Aug 2007, 08:02 am
And I can not believe Wilemse is one of SA’s 4 best wings!!! Take any wing from the Curry Cup and he will be 10 times better then Wilemse who didn’t play a single good game in 4 years!!!!
16 Aug 2007, 08:07 am
#9 I also don’t understand Jake’s fascination with Ashwin.
He has cost SA rugby a shitload of money for doing nothing much, and now he is getting out after the WC anyway.
16 Aug 2007, 08:22 am
not only was monty fullback in the SA side which won all 4 3n matches in 1998 he was also the team goal kicker as he was in 2004. he is the record points scorer in SA test history. he is the most capped fullback – will become the most capped player and has a test career spanning 10 years. he has been selected by 5 different bok coaches, and to top it off he last night claimed the record for points scored in a single match.
16 Aug 2007, 08:22 am
Even Jongi Nkowe is better than him!
16 Aug 2007, 08:27 am
And how was Jacque Fourie’s performance last night?
16 Aug 2007, 08:29 am
Pietman and ciccino isn’t because of quotas that Ashwin is Boy Wonder. Probably find he has a comrade mate in government.Lekker bly ouens.Eks weg. Dis kroegtyd!
16 Aug 2007, 08:31 am
I know the game was loose , but felt a bit sorry for Jacque Cronje.
16 Aug 2007, 09:09 am
Monty has been a legend, no getting away from that.
His record set last night for most points scored in a match cannot be compared to the previous one held by Jannie De Beer, against England, in a crucial World Cup game.
The new record has a very hollow look to it – against Namibia in a meaningless warm up friendly.
16 Aug 2007, 09:11 am
Jaccque Fourie was shocking….but he is a great player…..give him time to settle. I say the same thing about Ashwin….he is also a great player. His leg drives are excellent, is VERY strong on his feet, and takes more than one man to bring him down. He over-ran Monty’s pass, the was offside on a kick….but he just needs game time. The man is a world beater. He just hasn’t had game time to make him sharp.
I must also note…Ashwin is leaving…so why even bother with giving him chance to settle? On the injured list for so long…and now he is leaving….this doesn’t impress me…so even though I think he is a good player. I’d not select him because it seems to be a wasted investment.
16 Aug 2007, 09:17 am
Ja say what you want bout Wyanand Olivier , im also not mad about the guy , but Ashwin Willemse is the lucky guy.
Apparently he sent Jake a sms after they won U21 and Jake has still got the sms. A very good relationship between the two etc.
By far the luckiest the player to be there , he didn’t play very well last night and when Habana is back , I hope JP get’s a run ahead of Ashwin
16 Aug 2007, 09:18 am
record versus Namibia
record versus England
yeah, you can’t compare them but the record is broken and well done to Monty for doing it.
16 Aug 2007, 09:34 am
I disagree with you guys about Willemse. He was an amazing talent before he went through his injury crisis. If he manages to find that form again with Bryan on the other wing we will be in for a very exciting WC. Remember that Habana also went through a serious bad patch was it last year where he was terrible but most people stuck by him and he was still picked for sides, I think we’ve seen the results of that this year. If a coach shows confidence in your ability generally you rise to the occassion. Remember too that these lads haven’t played rugby for a long while now so the likes of JF will be rusty, not everyone hits form immediately, we have 3 weeks and two games to do so! Any news on De Villiers yet?
16 Aug 2007, 09:42 am
Oh, puh-leeeze!
16 Aug 2007, 09:43 am
Timbo I said on another thread Ashwin lacks pace and thats it. Cant have centres opening gaps and he hasn’t got proper pace to utilize it.
16 Aug 2007, 09:53 am
Ashwin is overrated!!!!!!!!!!!
16 Aug 2007, 09:57 am
jeez fourie had a shocker, ashwin is a disgrace. he wastes all of sarfu money for 3 years then leaves to france, he can get f%cked
16 Aug 2007, 10:00 am
Ashwin is just very slow for a winger.He’s a strong bugger but his pace worries me.
16 Aug 2007, 10:02 am
I’m still reading on other threads okes moaning about JF etc, dudes, the guys will be fine when it comes to the crunch times, thanks to Jake they now have the experience and the players. I must say that if I were a Bok last night I would have found it really hard to get up for that game, as much as the bok jearsey should enspire that everytime you pull it on. The other thing is, other than Schalk who is absolutely nuts, you may find that some of these guys had the thought of injury in the back of their minds. There are a lot of factors, again … we have three more weeks, two more warm up games plus a game against Samoa to get things right. We hav it better than pomland in that we get to have a tough match against Samoa whilest they play USA hardly awe inspiring stuff, when the boks are finished against Samoa they will be battle hardened thats for sure.
16 Aug 2007, 10:12 am
seak1_cpt – I reckon Jaque Fourie is a little scared of injury right now and so he should be.
Expect him to increase as his confidence grows in not getting injured, Fourie is another Gysie GermusHuys, who scored a try in almost every game he played for the Boks. LEGEND!!!
16 Aug 2007, 10:22 am
#27
Its Gerrie Germishuysen and Gysie Pienaar
16 Aug 2007, 10:34 am
16# jonnow
Yes, pretty meaningless.
I see JdV is out for a month (Rugby 365}.
16 Aug 2007, 10:49 am
Come on fellas, shop peeing in your own nests, even Mickey mouse could have put a ton on these fellows…..maybe even the Blind Institute 2nd 15 could have whipped them,
Patrick.
16 Aug 2007, 10:53 am
Can I ask a couple of quickies?
How many of Monty’s points came from conversions near or right in front of the posts?
Did he have to work hard to slot many of the kicks?
It is an impressive feat to kick 35 points in a game. Unfortunately, it is slightly tainted because there was no pressure whatsoever on him apart from himself.
Montgomery has been the form goalkicker this year so far. His only problem is that his range is only about 35m. Any more than that and he loses accuracy.
16 Aug 2007, 11:22 am
Cant and wont catch a high-ball
Cant and wont effect a spot-tackle.
Has improved his kicking over the years. And was always a good runner.
But.
As with each position there are key functions they must bring to the table before they can add their own talents. And if you select a FB, firstly you want him to field all the kicks that come at him otherwise you have a glaring defensive weakness. When the ball goes UP, how confident are you that Monty catches it ?
And secondly, he is the last line of defence when the opposition has the ball. How many times does the revolving-door technique he showed as a rookie and continues 80-caps later, let through the attacker ? In a word, he aint exactly ‘brave’.
No doubt he’s a very good player. But after 80-caps he still hasnt proved he can master basic skills required of his position. To talk Hall Of Fame, you think players of the ilk of A.Joubert, M.Burke, C.Cullen, S.Blanco.
But Monty ?!
Yet another attempt by White to ramp up his Spin Doctor skills prior to the RWC (thats what happens when you have Clivey W as a ‘good friend’). Until the 1st high-ball goes up….
16 Aug 2007, 11:24 am
even odwa looked fast when he came on in place of willemse
16 Aug 2007, 11:29 am
Monty has great positional understanding, runs intelligent lines, has super quick passing skills. He is brilliant at clearing under pressure, with accuracy. He can stand five metres from the side line in his 22, and regularly kicks for the lineout in the opposite 22! Thyat is the kind of thing we get complacent about, and dont credit Monty with it enough.
He is also reasonably reliable a kicking for goal, though his misses have cost us dearly before. But I back him 100%, and do not think he will let us down.]
SA rugby salutes you Monty!
16 Aug 2007, 11:32 am
rugby911,
As long as it is only the South African Hall of Fame, i’m happy. He’s no Gavin Hastings
16 Aug 2007, 11:32 am
Odwa is not just reasonably fast, he is a powerful runner. I think he deserves his spot.
BigRed, you are exagerating. Monty puts in the tackles, and is more effective now then ever before.
16 Aug 2007, 11:37 am
At this point I do not think the hall of fame is where the focus should lie. We have a world cup to play, then we can see.
16 Aug 2007, 11:41 am
He doesnt put in the ‘spot-tackles’ ie front on. Monty is happy to tackle from the side (you’ll notice he often shows the attacker the sideline) or from behind, but take a rampaging centre or flanker on the straight ball and Monty is waving him through. He reminds me of the AB Allan Hewson but with 40kgs more meat on his bones.
Dont get me wrong, he’s a very good and skillful player and deserves his spot. But F.Steyn is braver and will, eventually, be a much better FB (wasted on the wing).
But Montys reluctance under the garryowen and his iffy front-on defense will be put under the spotlight at this RWC.
16 Aug 2007, 11:53 am
rugby911,
Montgomery is good, but not much more than that. He is vital to the Bok cause because he offers:
- a reliable kicking option
- a good clearing kick which is vital to the Boks gameplan of playing for territory and keeping the pressure on their opponents
- experience, in that he is liable to make the safe decision under pressure that his coach requires
Under the high ball, Monty still resembles a startled rabbit, his tackling is hit and miss (which is quite strange as he appears to wear more padding than your average NFL linebacker these days), and his forays into the backline are few and far between.
Basically, he is an experienced head at the back who keeps the Boks playing the game in the right areas. That is all White wants from his fullback. Monty isn’t expected to link up and pose a huge attacking threat with his fellow outside backs. If he is expected to do so, it hasn’t happened for a while.
Good fullback, best available currently, and South Africa’s premier goalkicker.
To be honest, the calibre of fullback in world rugby right now isn’t great, which means Monty is near the top without having to do much. If he were in the era of Cullen, Burke and Andre Joubert or Blanco, Hastings, Gallagher and Davies (Jonathan of Wales) then it would clearer that he is no more than solid player capable of executing his coaches gameplan.
Well done to him on his record haul once again.
16 Aug 2007, 11:55 am
stodders – pls don’t compare second rate country rate stars to the likes on Monty.
16 Aug 2007, 11:56 am
rephrase – second rate rugby country star (players)
16 Aug 2007, 12:02 pm
smokalot,
Monty is a decent player, Hastings is a legend. Check out the IRB Hall of Fame if you want. That’s the world rugby hall of fame, not just his country’s
16 Aug 2007, 12:09 pm
I don’t know what more Monty needs to do for south african rugby in order for people to appreciatte him. Don’t get me wrong not that anyone in particular on this blog is slating him… it’s just that more often than not people will go on about how useless he is and people go so far as booing him at statdiums sometimes.
I have never seen a useless person playy 80 odd tests and hold the record for the most points in his country. Obviously there are some aspects of his game that will be stronger than others but that is the case with most rugby players.
He is a stalwart of SA rugby and I am delighted to hear that he is not retiring. I think players like Francois Stein and a few other youngsters coming through can only benefit with a guy like Percy around as they look to luanch their international careers…
We salute you Percy you desreve every acolade and you are truly a springbok great !!
16 Aug 2007, 12:24 pm
Sodders – Consider who runs the IRB – Hasting is a legend in Scotland. Not up there with Southern Hemisphere stars
16 Aug 2007, 12:40 pm
smokalot,
Who runs it? Last time i checked there was an Irishman (Syd Millar) as chairman ably supported by a myriad of other nationalities. There might even be the odd South African in the mix.
Hall of Famers are voted in by rugby players, coaches, and media scribes as well as the brandy drinking brigade at the IRB. Looks like there are a few more people out there in the world who liked Mr Hastings other than Scots fans
As for saying Hastings isn’t up there with SH stars, i could probably agree with you if you were talking about the very best there have ever been like (from the modern age) Andre Joubert, Chritian Cullen. But Hastings was a force of nature, and at times, in what was quite a successful Scottish team, he was the fulcrum of alot of the good things. He was a latter day Braveheart.
16 Aug 2007, 12:57 pm
Stodders & Smokey,
Gavin was a great player. That is a fact.
He would be the third best British FB I have ever seen, behind:-
1- Andy Irvine.
2- JPR Williams.
then- Gavin Hastings.
Stodders, did Hastings ever Capt a Lions team?
Monty is a very good Test player. But he is no Chris Latham.
That said ……..Monty will do all that Jake requires of him……and do it well.
16 Aug 2007, 13:04 pm
38. Big Red
Spot on, I am reminded of Allan-wooly-gloves-Hewson every time I see Percy play;
Great kicker, occasional flashes of brilliant (in slow-motion) on attack, but weak in D and under the high ball.
16 Aug 2007, 13:09 pm
cane,
he captained the Lions in NZ in 1993. What a series that was!
16 Aug 2007, 13:20 pm
Monty? hall of fame?..wake up!!
Neil Jenkins broke records should he be in hall of fame??
come on lets put this into perspective. Against Namibia..heck there were records there for the taking.
longevity and records are not the only factors that make one great.
of the modern era..Christian Cullen is the greatest bar none.
the best fullback since him has being Chris Lathem
16 Aug 2007, 13:21 pm
Stodders,
Yes I saw the 2nd Test in Wellington. Gale Force wind. At half time I knew the AB’s didn’t have enough points to win.
Lions team had several top players including Ben Clarke and Peter Winterbottom, two of the very best loosies I have seen.
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