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Comment: Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town – Albeit some distance behind hapless Earl Rose, mere mention of the words “Ricky Januarie” tends to trigger strong emotions, and most of them not flattering, among sections of the South African rugby public.
Sometimes I have my own suspicions around the deeper rationale for such vigorous distaste, but the fact remains that Januarie is … well, not universally popular.
There are, it must be stated, some fairly pertinent and in no way sinister reasons, because it does appear as if the chunky scrumhalf has a ridiculous, never-expiring visa to Springbok squad access under the tenure of head coach Peter de Villiers.
Repeatedly, Januarie has wriggled his way into Bok match-day 22s when a host of other No 9s have presented markedly better credentials on the powerful basis of form.
Perhaps this stubborn “Div” penchant has subconsciously been responsible for giving Januarie a worse reputation than he actually deserves - although his off-park misdemeanours and rather bland, po-faced public persona hardly help any charm quest he may have.
And his home union of Western Province notably haven’t given up on him: on Thursday he was a little unexpectedly catapulted back to first-choice status for the weekend’s all-important final round-robin Absa Currie Cup tie against the Sharks at Newlands.
Make no mistake, there will be plenty of chortling among supporters of the visiting side, and probably also gasps of disbelief among pockets of the Province faithful too.
It might seem, at face value, as if Januarie has eclipsed Dewaldt Duvenage, the credible scrumhalf string-puller of recent weeks, on the flimsy basis of suggestions that he has shown a semblance of “renewed commitment” – or words to that effect – during the compulsory, out-of-competition conditioning period undertaken by contracted Springboks.
And with mounting question marks around the suitability of veteran place-kicking ace Willem de Waal to getting the dangerous Province outside backs away crisply from flyhalf, restoring Januarie to No 9 – when Duvenage is arguably fleeter of both foot and pass – may not prove helpful at all.
But like it or not, Januarie has some qualities unmatched in many other players in his position: most notably his bulldog competitiveness and warmth to the task when there is a scent of needle, or outright animosity, in the air.
Such circumstances can translate into a short fuse, in Januarie’s case, but he has tended to keep his temper respectably in check in recent months, and for body-on-the-line relish and tigerish “sniping” in areas of the field where it may hurt, Ricky’s often your man.
At the press conference announcing the side, both coach Allister Coetzee and captain Schalk Burger – another restored Bok to the cause, albeit far more predictably – stressed the importance of matching the Sharks’ competence at the breakdown, or “collisions” in different parlance.
It is here where, significantly, Januarie becomes like an extra, burrowing loose forward and stands back to no-one.
And it also in this department that WP have come a cropper on two prior occasions to the Sharks this year – in costly Durban defeats first in the Super 14 and then the Currie Cup.
So maybe they have done decent homework: certainly having both Burger and Januarie battling in this facet should enhance their bid for something much closer to parity or even dominance.
Coetzee justified the preference of Januarie by making the not irrelevant point that “Dewaldt has had lots of non-stop rugby this year” and that “Ricky gives us something (extra) in a very physical game”.
It is a risk, for sure - a money-spinning home semi-final is at stake for the hosts - but in this approach can also lie great reward.
And the funny thing is that, for all the likelihood that Duvenage is a more “sensible” choice, it’s hard to escape a sneaky feeling that, given one of his good days, the tenacious Januarie is actually a smarter bet for a possible man-of-the-match laurel or thereabouts.
Besides, if Plan Ricky were to show signs of going pear-shaped, Duvenage is a short call away in a substitute’s jersey … something Januarie is, ironically, so spectacularly acclimatised to at national level.
Teams:
Western Province:
15. Gio Aplon, 14. Jean de Villiers, 13. Jaque Fourie, 12. Juan de Jongh, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Willem de Waal, 9. Ricky Januarie, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Francois Louw, 6. Schalk Burger, 5. Anton van Zyl (captain), 4. Adriaan Fondse, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Deon Fourie, 1. JD Moller
Replacements: 16. Hanyani Shimange, 17. JC Kritzinger, 18. De Kock Steenkamp, 19. Pieter Louw, 20. Dewaldt Duvenage, 21. Lionel Cronje, 22. Conrad Jantjes
Sharks:
15. Patrick Lambie, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. Stefan Terblanche (captain), 12. Andries Strauss, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Andre Pretorius, 9. Rory Kockott, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Michael Rhodes, 6. Jacques Botes, 5. Alistair Hargreaves, 4. Gerhard Mostert, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Bismarck du Plessis, 1. Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16. Craig Burden, 17. Eugene van Staden, 18. Steven Sykes, 19. Keegan Daniel, 20. Charl McLeod, 21. Adrian Jacobs, 22. Louis Ludik
Cape Town – Albeit some distance behind hapless Earl Rose, mere mention of the words “Ricky Januarie” tends to trigger strong emotions, and most of them not flattering, among sections of the South African rugby public.
Sometimes I have my own suspicions around the deeper rationale for such vigorous distaste, but the fact remains that Januarie is … well, not universally popular.
There are, it must be stated, some fairly pertinent and in no way sinister reasons, because it does appear as if the chunky scrumhalf has a ridiculous, never-expiring visa to Springbok squad access under the tenure of head coach Peter de Villiers.
Repeatedly, Januarie has wriggled his way into Bok match-day 22s when a host of other No 9s have presented markedly better credentials on the powerful basis of form.
Perhaps this stubborn “Div” penchant has subconsciously been responsible for giving Januarie a worse reputation than he actually deserves - although his off-park misdemeanours and rather bland, po-faced public persona hardly help any charm quest he may have.
And his home union of Western Province notably haven’t given up on him: on Thursday he was a little unexpectedly catapulted back to first-choice status for the weekend’s all-important final round-robin Absa Currie Cup tie against the Sharks at Newlands.
Make no mistake, there will be plenty of chortling among supporters of the visiting side, and probably also gasps of disbelief among pockets of the Province faithful too.
It might seem, at face value, as if Januarie has eclipsed Dewaldt Duvenage, the credible scrumhalf string-puller of recent weeks, on the flimsy basis of suggestions that he has shown a semblance of “renewed commitment” – or words to that effect – during the compulsory, out-of-competition conditioning period undertaken by contracted Springboks.
And with mounting question marks around the suitability of veteran place-kicking ace Willem de Waal to getting the dangerous Province outside backs away crisply from flyhalf, restoring Januarie to No 9 – when Duvenage is arguably fleeter of both foot and pass – may not prove helpful at all.
But like it or not, Januarie has some qualities unmatched in many other players in his position: most notably his bulldog competitiveness and warmth to the task when there is a scent of needle, or outright animosity, in the air.
Such circumstances can translate into a short fuse, in Januarie’s case, but he has tended to keep his temper respectably in check in recent months, and for body-on-the-line relish and tigerish “sniping” in areas of the field where it may hurt, Ricky’s often your man.
At the press conference announcing the side, both coach Allister Coetzee and captain Schalk Burger – another restored Bok to the cause, albeit far more predictably – stressed the importance of matching the Sharks’ competence at the breakdown, or “collisions” in different parlance.
It is here where, significantly, Januarie becomes like an extra, burrowing loose forward and stands back to no-one.
And it also in this department that WP have come a cropper on two prior occasions to the Sharks this year – in costly Durban defeats first in the Super 14 and then the Currie Cup.
So maybe they have done decent homework: certainly having both Burger and Januarie battling in this facet should enhance their bid for something much closer to parity or even dominance.
Coetzee justified the preference of Januarie by making the not irrelevant point that “Dewaldt has had lots of non-stop rugby this year” and that “Ricky gives us something (extra) in a very physical game”.
It is a risk, for sure - a money-spinning home semi-final is at stake for the hosts - but in this approach can also lie great reward.
And the funny thing is that, for all the likelihood that Duvenage is a more “sensible” choice, it’s hard to escape a sneaky feeling that, given one of his good days, the tenacious Januarie is actually a smarter bet for a possible man-of-the-match laurel or thereabouts.
Besides, if Plan Ricky were to show signs of going pear-shaped, Duvenage is a short call away in a substitute’s jersey … something Januarie is, ironically, so spectacularly acclimatised to at national level.
Teams:
Western Province:
15. Gio Aplon, 14. Jean de Villiers, 13. Jaque Fourie, 12. Juan de Jongh, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Willem de Waal, 9. Ricky Januarie, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Francois Louw, 6. Schalk Burger, 5. Anton van Zyl (captain), 4. Adriaan Fondse, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Deon Fourie, 1. JD Moller
Replacements: 16. Hanyani Shimange, 17. JC Kritzinger, 18. De Kock Steenkamp, 19. Pieter Louw, 20. Dewaldt Duvenage, 21. Lionel Cronje, 22. Conrad Jantjes
Sharks:
15. Patrick Lambie, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. Stefan Terblanche (captain), 12. Andries Strauss, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Andre Pretorius, 9. Rory Kockott, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Michael Rhodes, 6. Jacques Botes, 5. Alistair Hargreaves, 4. Gerhard Mostert, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Bismarck du Plessis, 1. Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16. Craig Burden, 17. Eugene van Staden, 18. Steven Sykes, 19. Keegan Daniel, 20. Charl McLeod, 21. Adrian Jacobs, 22. Louis Ludik
