Tri-Nations latest (Mon)
30 Aug 2010
Keo.co.za brings you the news from the Tri-Nations.
PdV defends Habana
Peter de Villiers says Bryan Habana’s lack of form is nothing to worry about.
The Springbok wing suffered a loss of form in this year’s Tri-Nations, showing concerns on attack and defence. Habana equalled former Bok scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen’s try record (38) against Italy in July but hasn’t scored a try since then. He has been criticised for drifting out of his wing channel and being exposed out wide.
Last Saturday against the Wallabies, Habana also made two costly errors which led to tries in the first half. He dropped the ball from the kickoff for wing James O’Connor to score and was caught out in the Boks’ red zone which resulted in a quick penalty tap for lock Dean Mumm to score.
However, it seems unlikely that Bok head coach De Villiers will drop the wing.
‘He [Habana] missed one ball and slipped. I don’t think there is a lot to be worried about,’ De Villiers said.
42 Comments
30 Aug 2010, 08:15 am
dragons… bla bla
30 Aug 2010, 08:19 am
i heard Aplon has been called up.
30 Aug 2010, 08:23 am
GEEZ DIVVIE – Just drop him already? We need consistency in the team..rather play Aplon?…
30 Aug 2010, 08:24 am
the problem with PDV is that he doesn’t have the nads to drop senior players like Habana, Smit, etc..
Graham Henry will drop any player who is off form. He rotates his palyers and this keeps his squad sharp and hungry to improve – because they know reputation counts for nothing.
PDV is a man mouse who seems to be in awe of his senior boks. He is out of his depth with no solid senior level coaching credentials – no wonder he’s weak and ineffective.. ***
All this is not PDVs fault, SARU must take the blame for appointing him.
***Imagine a Fortune 500 company appointing someone from middle management to become the CEO, it’s a poisoned chalice with no hope of success.
30 Aug 2010, 08:28 am
Habana only gave away two tries, and the Boks now routinely leak so many that, really, what are only two more?
30 Aug 2010, 08:30 am
@brains_trust(brains_trust)-4: Not totally true….Graham Henry have selected Joe Rokocoko time after time
30 Aug 2010, 08:35 am
He missed one ball and slipped…fir crying in a bucket PDivviy, the man has lost form and with your refusal to drop him, I would hazard a guess he has lost all his confidence as well! But hey, we won so everything is fine now!
30 Aug 2010, 08:36 am
@Mighty Horua(Mighty Horua)-6: kept faith in mils too
30 Aug 2010, 08:37 am
He definately needs a spell in the minors to sharpen up. He’s still one of the best there is, he needs to play to his potential though.
@grant10(grant10)-2: Glad to hear that. I think he deserves another start. How fantastic was the weather yesterday? I spared a thought for all the WP (Cape Town) bashing crowd as I sat at Mariners Warf with an ice cold Millers in one hand and some seafood in the other…..
30 Aug 2010, 08:46 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-7: i think bryan is over eager. he’s one of those players that want to contribute as much as possible, like rooney for manutd, they want to be involved in everything. the boks as a team and bryan in particular have lacked composure at times this term. he should just relax
30 Aug 2010, 08:48 am
@grant10(grant10)-2: Hopefully in place of carthorse Flop Steyn
30 Aug 2010, 08:49 am
@grant10(grant10)-2: that is sad news indeed, I would have prefered that Basson get the call up instead of the wee little fellow.
30 Aug 2010, 08:50 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-9: ja
dont say it too loudly
we rather keep it a secret!
30 Aug 2010, 08:52 am
@RedLion is born again(RL)-12: your a funny guy
30 Aug 2010, 08:52 am
@RedLion is born again(RL)-12: should of called them both up.
I rate F Steyn but he is as dik as Plod….he needs to get fit …
Play aplon at 15 and Basson at 11.
but pdv and the other 2 stooges refuse to entertain form…
30 Aug 2010, 08:59 am
Morne had a good game on Saturday, but I wanna see Butch get an extended run this Saturday. I agree with the people above. Give Basson a chance on the wing.
30 Aug 2010, 09:13 am
@mamma_lou(mamma_lou)-10:
Goes with the drop in confidence at this stage, best for him to have a nice break and come back refreshed. We all know on form he is n automatic pick but PDivvie seems to rather break him down further than to give him time…
30 Aug 2010, 09:15 am
Is the TriN, like, still going ?!
30 Aug 2010, 09:20 am
Steyn needs more game time, PDIv should have afforded him the same treatment as JDV
Habana did not have a good S14 either
30 Aug 2010, 09:21 am
What is wrong with you okes? Francois Hougaard has a great running game but his passing is piss poor. Play him on the wing and put Sarel Pretorious at scrumhalf. That is definitely the best solution. Also, put van den Heever on the right instead of useless JPP.
30 Aug 2010, 09:22 am
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30 Aug 2010, 09:53 am
A GOOD rugby player is a TEAM player.
I wonder what that makes Bryan Habana, since he absolutely and brazenly puts himself ahead of the team by being so blatantly desparate to score just one more try to best Joost’s record, that he is willing to give away a many tries against South Africa as it takes.
He’s been so ineffective because the other teams can do analysis. And it’s easy to see that Habana is trying his best to get the intercepts at all costs.
I wonder how popular he is amongst his teammates?
30 Aug 2010, 10:15 am
@Mighty Horua(Mighty Horua)-6: Ag dont argue with idiots with facts.
FYI Brains_trust , PDV had more experience when he took on the job than Jake had when he did. He was part of Mallets coaching staff to name a few of his coaching credentials.
30 Aug 2010, 10:27 am
@JL1(JL1)-19:
You got the win but you can’t really be that happy with a performance like that?
30 Aug 2010, 10:29 am
@rugbywriter(rugbywriter)-20:
you kidding right?
30 Aug 2010, 10:33 am
Habana had a poor game but looking to the future i don’t think he can play any worse. next week will probably be his last game for the boks this year so hopefully he will perform.
30 Aug 2010, 10:37 am
Aplon was always going to rejoin the Bok squad today. I heard that on Friday…
Nothing sinister…
30 Aug 2010, 10:38 am
@Fidget(Fidget)-25: About what?
30 Aug 2010, 10:40 am
we got the win… not a pretty win… but a win…
that’s some progress…
thought Hougaard, JdV, Guthro and the evergreen and always reliable Juan had really good games…
think gio deserves another run… he makes things happen… keeps the opposition guessing and doesn’t do the same old same old all the time… and his compact solid body always surprises guys when they try to tackle him… or get tackled by him…
yeah… Habana needs a break in the CC to slow things down and get his act together and get his confidence back…
but i can just never understand the personal attacks and innuendo on our rugby players… 99 % of bloggers have never even met these guys and they take things so personally it’s actually bordeline psycho…
sheesh guys…
30 Aug 2010, 10:51 am
@sparticus(sparticus)-23:
You right, everyone so darn quick to call for PDV head. He may be very different to other coaches, gets up people noses the wrong way but he has the buy in from all the senior players and they back each other. Yes, the boks are not the squad they used to be but they will bounce back, PDV will still be coach for some time to come. That’s fact and maybe we should start backing the boys rather than calling for everyone head.
It’s absolutely ridiculous how some bloggers just say, fire JS, fire Habanna, fire JPP, bring in Lamby etc. What rubbish.
30 Aug 2010, 10:52 am
@Agile T*t-Tyrant(Anairetes agilis)-22:
“I wonder how popular he is amongst his teammates?”
I think he is as popolar as he teammates… for instance
Spies (again he would rather let other players tackle for him)I’m sure Juan & Burger simply love that about Spies,
Smit (slipped a crucial tackle on Nonu & we all what was the result there)
Victor (worked like a horse but also missed a tackle on Genia which led to Oz 1st try and open the floodgates in the 1st half)
@ufo(ufo)-29: I agree
30 Aug 2010, 10:54 am
@ufo(ufo)-29:
That’s exactly how I feel – the personal attacks on the players is just so uncalled for and reading some of the posts here makes me ashamed to be a South African supporter.
30 Aug 2010, 11:34 am
@Fidget(Fidget)-32: Well said. i agree with UFO.
30 Aug 2010, 11:44 am
@brains_trust(brains_trust)-4:
Rubbish.
Henry has his favourites too,last year the likes of Kaino,Rokocoko,Tialata,Muliaina,Sivivatu,Nonu were consistently selected even being in poor form/couldnt handle kick chase strategy etc while the like of Hosea Gear,Cory Jane(eventually got picked),Wyatt Crockett,Rudi Wulf etc were in better form/better suited to counter Bok game plan.Henry selected them anyway.Kept the faith.
All the above barring Tialata are still there this yr(Sivi is injured).
30 Aug 2010, 12:05 pm
I think quite a few players go to Cape Town and it destroys thier career. Habana and Januarie have not adapted to play in the Cape and need to move back to Pretoria and Joburg repectively to revive their careers.
30 Aug 2010, 12:05 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-18:
30 Aug 2010, 12:08 pm
@Fidget(Fidget)-25: hehehehehehehehehehe
30 Aug 2010, 12:56 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-18: something about just the wooden spoon to decide..
30 Aug 2010, 13:57 pm
Habadonna needs a break, cash incentive break, to regain his sharpness
He will be back
30 Aug 2010, 14:17 pm
Talking of wings, how well is Bjorn Basson playing at the moment? Everytime he touches the ball you expect something to happen.
30 Aug 2010, 16:48 pm
@Craven(Craven)-40:
You’re right, and he’s playing in a **** side so he really must be good. PDV missed a trick when he dropped him from the squad before the 3N’s
31 Aug 2010, 04:25 am
@Fidget(Fidget)-30: I agree- these bloggers have learnt nothing from our Straeuli episodes. He regarded the problem of coaching as the problem of selection.
at teh top level, it is not about individual form – ist about how you get teh individuals to play as ateam. PdV has had is team playingto the wrong game plan (kick chase) for the first four games this season.
OK so he flogged a dead horse, sure, and it finally took a home game in front of 90k people, with all the opportunity in the world, when all of his players actually did play well, and still lost, to teach him this.
But now hopefully he has satisfied himself of the inadequacy of his game plan in the new law interpretations, learnt his lesson, and we can move on. by all ccounts, the last game against Oz was a step in the right direction, where possesion was held, and kicking was an exception, and we won well DESPITE not playing well. Now he has a new game plan, and they can learn to play it well in the buildup to the next RWC.
Those are still good players, and as they say, class is permanent while form is temporary. ******** with selections now is like changing the winscreen wipers on a runaway train. No point. The players need to be managed for conditioning though.
He also needs to build up some depth for post-RWC, when all the senior players retire. This is great, because he needs to rest senior players and condition them from now until Januray. Expect another young experiemntal side to be played on EOYT. Hopefully this time in combinations that do play together, and complemented by senior boks that have been injured and are not fatigued to provide a core of experience.
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