Break would have served Habana better
31 Aug 2010
GRANT BALL writes that Bryan Habana should have been rested for Saturday’s Test against Australia.
Peter de Villiers said on Monday that every step from now on must be for the good of the World Cup, and you would assume that would mean seeing the top players reach the event in the best possible form and in good physical condition. Mentally, the players have highlighted the difficulty in getting up for big matches consistently, and this seems the likely scenario with Habana, who will be expected to play another Test in Bloemfontein.
His confidence hit new lows at Loftus as he gifted James O’Connor a try and was caught in possession in the build-up to Dean Mumm’s. In between those two examples it was clear he tried too hard to make up for O’Connor’s score by running from behind his own line after Kurtley Beale’s missed long-range penalty, and then he hacked the ball into touch, which resulted in a net gain for the Wallabies. That example more than any other showed what state of mind Habana is in: he felt he should counter-attack, but then didn’t believe he could break through the defence when confronted by would-be tacklers.
The question is how can he – like so many other Boks this season – look so different a player to the one who succeeded in the Super 14? Habana, and for that matter any Bok back and especially wing, hasn’t been helped by the Boks’ limited and one-dimensional attacking game. Habana’s last three Test tries have come against Italy – a side ranked outside the top 10 – while he’s also had little constructed for him. At the Stormers, Habana is used as a strike runner, but with the Boks he’s merely a finisher on the end of a backline who’ve lacked creativity.
Habana’s best moment in the last two years was scoring the series-turning try against the British & Irish Lions at Loftus. With the exception of his tries against Australia in Perth, he’s looked largely ineffectual since. The worrying factor from the Bok management’s perspective is why similar opportunities haven’t been created for him.
Telling statistics since De Villiers took over as Bok coach show that Habana has scored just eight tries in 29 Tests, compared to 30 in 36, pre-2008. During the same time-frame against the top five nations, including the Lions, Habana’s record has slumped to five tries in 21 Tests under De Villiers, compared to 15 in 23 between 2004 and the end of 2007.
It may seem harsh to drop or rest a player who’s been susceptible to the team and coaching staff’s failings, but a break at times like these is often the best medicine to refresh the mind and body.
Habana is set to be announced in the Bok side named on Tuesday where he’ll benefit from a midfield combo of Jaque Fourie and Jean de Villiers, but he would’ve been aided more by a complete break from the game, with Gio Aplon starting. In two interviews with keo.co.za in the last three months, Habana has been one individual to speak openly about not being over-played, as before the Tri-Nations started, he was already nearing the recommended game-time of 1400-1600 minutes per year.
Habana talked about the value of being rested at the right times, and this week was just that. De Villiers explained his re-selection of players such as Habana due to the local fans wanting to see them, but bowing to perceived public sentiment isn’t in a Springbok coach’s job description.
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138 Comments
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31 Aug 2010, 07:56 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-31:
You good at Yarpie speak………….you’d swear you were one
31 Aug 2010, 08:02 am
These older Boks are stale…..mentally jaded….probably more mental than physical.A good ,long break and they will be fine.
Of course there are a couple of exceptions….those that are just clearly klaar,kaput,over the hill….
But i wont go there.
31 Aug 2010, 08:03 am
@grant10(grant10)-52:
Phweew…………
31 Aug 2010, 08:05 am
My Bok team :
F Steyn
SHADOWWWWWWWW / Basson
Mossie
WO (de jongh killer)
Hougaard (wing)
M Steyn
FDP
Spiesssssss/Burger
Juan Smith
Brussow
Matfield
Bakkies
Guthro
Bissie
Jannie
31 Aug 2010, 08:07 am
@I_support_BEES(suffer_guy)-54: I see you fixed your name
31 Aug 2010, 08:09 am
@flanka(flanka)-19: you’re quite right, but you should also know that everything on this site including the form of the players is de villiers’ fault!
Invest in youth Jake
Keo, in his Business Day column, writes that
every day Jake White resists making
changes to his squad is lost time.
White, having made his name on the back
of youth as an under 21 coach, has to
rekindle his love affair with youth if South
Africa are to restore credibility to a world
ranking that just a month ago was second
only to the All Blacks.
The Boks, in a fortnight, could be fifth in the
world and on a spiral to be seventh by the
end of the year.
To reinforce the problems without
providing an alternative would be wasted
energy. It is solutions that must occupy
ours and “most importantly“ the
coach’s mind. The players he has on
tour are not good enough. Some are out of
form, some have never had form and
others will never rediscover their best form.
White has relied on 2004′s game plan
and motivational speeches, but the eager
and hungry squad of 2004 is jaded and
disinterested in 2006.
White should never have needed hindsight
to recognize the frailties and limitations of a
team that won him a Tri Nations in his first
attempt. But – and it’s a massive but – never won away from home in
achieving it. All three Tri Nations teams won
two matches in 2004 and the Boks
triumphed because of bonus points.
The champion tag of 2004 created an
illusion that a good young side was indeed
a great one. Great ones win all four in the
Tri Nations and go onto Europe and crush
what the north serve as a main course on
match day. The Boks have never done this
under White.
More to the point has been the Boks form
away from home in the last three years. In
2004: lost to New Zealand, Australia, Ireland
and England.
In 2005: lost to Australia, beat
Australia, lost to New Zealand and lost to
France.
In 2006: lost to Australia and New
Zealand. If that’s the squad for the World
Cup in France next year, then why bother
going?
This squad needs change – and quickly.
White’s conservatism I fear will be his
worst enemy in the weeks ahead.
But let’s be bold on this Monday
morning and give him the benefit of the
doubt. Let’s believe he has seen the light
on the flight between Wellington and
Sydney and recognized there is life beyond
those tortured tourists wearing green in
Sydney this week.
At fullback Percy Montgomery must rest and
be reassessed at the end of the Currie Cup.
Breyton Paulse is operating on memory and
Bryan Habana is suffering a serious case of
second season blues. Wynand Olivier is
doing a holding job, Ricky Januarie craves a
burger more than he does a win against the
best teams, the loose-trio hasn’t had
balance since Schalk Burger’s neck gave
in and the tighthead prop situation won’t be solved on tour.
So what can White do?
There are players good enough to step into
test rugby now. Ruan Pienaar and Brad
Barritt offer enterprise at halfback. Butch
Jamesâ €™s best position is inside centre
and Joe van Niekerk, Juan Smith and Luke
Watson are a loose-trio with balance, skill,
two lineout options and an openside
specialist.
Brent Russell would be a magician if he was
Australian, French or a Kiwi. In the Bok set-
up he is Tommy Tourist. BJ Botha is the best
tighthead in the country and, until injury
put him out for six weeks, Schalk Brits
should have been shadowing John Smit.
If White had shown insight, instead of
having to rely on tired old hindsight, he
would have played a different tighthead,
flank, No 8, scrumhalf, flyhalf, inside centre,
wing and fullback against New Zealand.
Now that he has hindsight, we can only
hope some of those changes are made in
Sydney.
He can’t be fooled by Wellington. The
Bok players get up for one jersey – and
that’s the black one. The Bok blood
never gets boiling for a battle with Aussie. It
is not in our playerâ €™s psyche. We have
folklore to curse for that.
All that has ever mattered to a young Bok
player is beating New Zealand. But times
have changed and now you have to beat
New Zealand, Australia, England, France and
occasionally Ireland.
The Boks gave it everything against a New
Zealand mix and match XV, were given
seven points after 15 seconds and still lost
by 18 points. It tells us those who played
are not good enough. It should tell White to
give others a chance.
This entry was posted on Monday, July
24th, 2006
31 Aug 2010, 08:14 am
Habana looks seriously off pace but it is too late to rest him, what is one week difference. Let this team finish off the Tri-Nations on a high note then you rest the whole lot of them. New additions will only cause distruptions.
31 Aug 2010, 08:24 am
@whatever(whatever)-48: no, its you that is insecure about your size..
as for wingers, I’d rather a Shane Williams, a Campese, a Lomu, a Robinson then a habana..
even Howlett is better..
just because I dont rate the guy means Im playing mine is bigger then yours?
bwahahahahaha
grow up FFS!!
31 Aug 2010, 08:24 am
habana is past his best .. time for him to open a few coffee shops
31 Aug 2010, 08:31 am
Listen if PdV drops Habanna he will only move Hougaard to wing and bring back Januarie. The guy lacks vision and has no idea of implementing a game plan to fit the new laws. He actually believes that if you have played 100 tests it is a right to win the world cup. He doesn’t know that player form and a good game plan is the recipe for success.
31 Aug 2010, 08:39 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-56: You’re looking rather “fetching” today, young fella. You all recovered from last nights battle?
31 Aug 2010, 08:42 am
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-42: He’s always counting tackles. You have the time to do that when you don’t actually make any unless the opponent accidentally trips over you.
31 Aug 2010, 08:44 am
I have a feeling that Bryan is not so much jaded as distracted by the attempt to break the try scoring record. He is dong his level best to get into positions to score. Go and have a look at the try scored by Frans Steyn on Saturday and you will see in the background Bryan’s reaction. If Frans hadn’t been there he was the next in line to receive the pass and there is visible disappointment/frustration on his face in my opinion. If you watch it he doesn’t celebrate the try as he normally does.
So my theory is that he is too focussed on breaking the try scoring record.
31 Aug 2010, 08:48 am
@bananaboy(bananaboy)-63: so what youre saying is he isnt a team player? to be disappointed when your team scores is not what you want from your players..
31 Aug 2010, 08:53 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-62: Hmmmm. Skirting the issue. Does this mean I win?
31 Aug 2010, 08:54 am
Ball which Stormers side did you watch this year?
Habana was **** throughout the Super 14.
31 Aug 2010, 08:54 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-45: I don’t make mistakes. I make deliberate errors for people to hunt in their attempt to win that famous Mazda, remember? (Some pilgrims are just sooo slow…)
31 Aug 2010, 08:55 am
@bananaboy(bananaboy)-63: Good point. I hope he breaks it this weekend so that he can get over it and progress.
31 Aug 2010, 08:56 am
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-65: Matfield’s a champion at skirting issues. Rucks, mauls and tackles especially.
31 Aug 2010, 08:56 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-61: hehehe there’s more where that came from!
31 Aug 2010, 08:57 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-66: I agree with PA… the only senior player not succeeding in the S14 was Habana. In fact, he did nothing in the S14 to warrant inclusion in the Bok team. If he wasn’t a bok already, he’d be at the foot of the ladder. I can think of 5 wings who deserves the position more than him. Basson at the top.
31 Aug 2010, 08:58 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-62: Matfield made 13 tackles, the second highest count after Juan Smith who made 15, out of all the forwards. Gurthro on 10, Schalk on 8, Flip on 5, John on 3 and Jannie on only 1.
So Smit made the second least, but carried the ball the most distance of all the tight five.
31 Aug 2010, 08:59 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-66: He was average according to his high standards. How much tries did he score in the S14?? I think it was about 6 or 7?? Not too bad.
31 Aug 2010, 09:01 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-72: Smit is an excellent ball carrier. He must just work on his tackling.
31 Aug 2010, 09:01 am
@bananaboy(bananaboy)-63: What you are confirming is that he is a selfish glory hunter.
31 Aug 2010, 09:01 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-70: I’ve no doubt. No doubt at all..
31 Aug 2010, 09:07 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-67:
No real contest if you correct your own mistakes in such short time! But I understand it is hard to part with the Mazda, the ’76 model is a bit of a collectable…if it did not miss the side mirrors and the odd rim!
31 Aug 2010, 09:09 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-66: but what you don’t get though Pissant is that grant Ball is working the “since de villiers took over” angle, so any objective analysis of Habana’s S14 form won’t serve the purpose of blaming peter de villiers for Habana’s woeful form. Apparently the tactics – something that de villiers apparently is in charge of only when the team loses – are the main cause of Bryan’s slump
31 Aug 2010, 09:10 am
@iori Yagami(iori Yagami)-74: If you listen to some of the other coaches, they do not regard that part of his game as their biggest priority, or his most important role by any means. The player who looks worst statistics wise, is Jannie, who only made 1 tackle, and hardly set the field alight in other areas. He was active in the rucks, but so were they all.
31 Aug 2010, 09:13 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-69:
It’s a myth that Matfield doesn’t hit the rucks. I can spot a forward who doesn’t a mile away, Kankowski, Muller etc.
Habana will go down as one of the all time greats, but I agree he should at least be dropped to the bench, Jake did this in 06 I believe… and he came back as the player of the year in 2007.
As much as I like the Jean de Villiers/Jaque Fourie combination, de Villiers should also be dropped to the bench to make way for JdJ who looks far hungrier and inform. I’ve yet to see JdJ miss a tackle and his combination with Fourie was magnificent in the S14.
31 Aug 2010, 09:16 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-80:
3-0 KKK
bwahahaha tell me again how Spies is the best number 8 in the world?
31 Aug 2010, 09:16 am
Grant I couldn’t of said the last line of this article any better! He is the Sprinbok coach and should be managing the players for the teams ultimate goals which next year include a WC! What if a player get injured an ruled out for a year will he blame the fans?!? He has to wake up to the fact that there is risk and reward and you need to rest your players otherwise they won’t perform.
As long as the over played guys get rest and a fitness program they will be good for next year. If not then we are our own worst enemies!
31 Aug 2010, 09:24 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-64: Poppa i just raised the point that it is a possibility. Habana is human after all and like anyone else would also be driven to succeed. I don’t think it makes him less of a team player, he just needs to be reminded to put the team first IF this is the case.
31 Aug 2010, 09:24 am
@WindDrifter(WindDrifter)-82:
If a player plays every minute, of every test in a year at an average of 12 tests a year, he will play a total of 960 minutes of rugby…
Where do you think the other 1000 minutes of playing comes from and who manages that?
31 Aug 2010, 09:29 am
@bananaboy(bananaboy)-83: therein lies the difference I suppose…
personal milestones should be secondary to the teams objective, rather then ensuring someone gets to 100 tests for example..
personal milestones should be a byproduct of the teams success, not the driving force of the teams components..
but thats just my opinion…
31 Aug 2010, 09:33 am
Stop blaming everyone else!!!!!! What is wrong with you Keo writers how you blame everyone else for players that aren’t good anymore?!?! You blame every single coach for Ruan Pienaar’s failures, you blame the coaches that move Smit to tighthead for his failures, you blame too much game time for the senior Bok failures, and now you’re blaming the coaching staff for Habana being useless. How is it the fault of anyone else’s that Habana dropped that restart?
The bottom line is that he is just not that good anymore and we would be much better with Hiugaard on the left wing and van den Heever on the right!
31 Aug 2010, 09:35 am
@rugbywriter(rugbywriter)-86:
Its easier…
31 Aug 2010, 09:42 am
@bananaboy(bananaboy)-63:
With all due respect, you speak with forked tongue.
Check the replay on Youtube – Habana is between the two Steyns. As the pass goes behind him, he crosses the try line and is knocked into by a covering Wobbly. F Steyn scores, Habana regains his footing and is the first person to congratulate F Steyn.
Habana’s form is poor, no doubt and maybe the record is playing on his mind (purely conjecture, of course, because, ya know, we can’t see into his head) but lets not create fictions to “substantiate” our personal opinions.
31 Aug 2010, 09:43 am
@rugbywriter(rugbywriter)-86: Put that on your blog….
(exept with all the Blue Bull that you post, you’re likely to have a very limited audience, and there’s already a blog for that) 
31 Aug 2010, 09:51 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-56: Absolutely classic!!
Keo loves to shoot his mouth off and call people idiots, but that article couldn’t have proven to be more wrong..
When Keo keeps a level head he can provide some insight but as soon as he gets emotional you’re know you’re in for some poor journalism and insight.
31 Aug 2010, 10:04 am
@GreenLion(GreenLion)-90:
uncanny and eerie that…isn’t it.
sa players are slow learners but the journo’s….wow wee!!
anyway, ironically I’m with Twakkie on this, I mean…he’s already flogged them half to death what would be the point of not playing them the last game and at least giving them the confidence of a win?
let’s face it, the ozzies are wobbly in SA and there were glimmers of decent rugby last weekend from our guys as there was the week before that.
31 Aug 2010, 10:06 am
Amen.
31 Aug 2010, 10:10 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-84:
I agree with that in specific situations but Twakkie is not without blame.
I refer to last seasons CC final….Chilli missed out on selection because he was deemed unfit/injured. Twakkie selected him 5 days later vs Leicester. Result…Chilli manages 15 minutes before limping off and missing a further 5 odd months. At the Bulls expense.
cheers
but it is an impossible situation. S14 coaches need their best players on the park…they are also accountable for results. I would, theorectically, say that it is easier to rest players at international level because an international coach has a greater pool of players to select from. But, as I said, that is in theory …there are other issues that come into play then.
31 Aug 2010, 10:19 am
Why not bring the top boks on in the second half. Give the guys that’s normally on the bench time to start the game. What do we got to lose , pride but that’s nothing. There’s a bigger picture , we have to prepare for a worldcup that’s just around the corner. Everybody could see the players are tired and need a break. Habs is not at his best and deserve a break. Eish, our captain could do with a couple of weeks rest , just get him into the gym. Mattfield is tired of all the jumping he also needs to get back to earth
I can understand that the spectators wanne see the best players out there but these guys can’t carry on like the way they did over the last two seasons. If the coach realy wanne be a good coach he must start take action and look after his players
31 Aug 2010, 10:35 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-93:
We have mentioned it to boredom on this blog – centrally contract your top Boks.
31 Aug 2010, 10:36 am
I’m a spectator and I’d rather see our guys refreshed at the WC than at this mostly meaningless match..
I wish the tri-nations was played every 2 years. It has become old hat. A cliche but a series between NZ would be epic..
31 Aug 2010, 10:48 am
I think Habana is class – he’s scored some tries that few other wings would have. He definately needs to sort his defensive issues out – is his coming off his wing maybe part of the bok defensive ‘system’…
I’d like to see him rested in the CC and maybe trim some of that muscle off. He’s huge these days and losing a few kgs could make him more nippy.
31 Aug 2010, 10:48 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-80: Pse add Spies to that little list.
31 Aug 2010, 10:50 am
great tries against Argentina etc … he’s no Danie gerber .. good, but not a legend. You are also just as good as your last game. Habana gooi naam weg
31 Aug 2010, 10:53 am
For the first time I am concerned about Hab’s pace. Just last season he was able to “burn” someone when need be but we haven’t seen that for quite some time now.
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