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Habana's blood stays blue

JJ Harmse

Pretoria – The brilliant performance of the Bulls in this year’s Super 14 could convince Bryan Habana to stick with the Loftus Versfeld outfit next season.

Habana’s contract with the Bulls expires at the end of the current season and he will consider a new offer from the union as well as several others from overseas.

After the victory by the Bulls in Saturday’s final, Habana had nothing but praise for the exceptional spirit and camaraderie of the team, which posed the question why he would want to leave once his contract expires.

“This is a very special group of people and it was for me, personally, a fantastic experience over the past six months. Look at this team, look at their character. Hopefully we also made the supporters proud to be Bulls.”

About his continued career with the Bulls, he was equally positive.

“I've been very happy here over the past four years. We have something special going on here and you don’t find it in other places in the world. On top of this, we are supported by wonderful team-mates and management,” said Habana.

“That will definitely be something to consider when I make my decision, but it's still two months down the line and not something that I have to think about now,” he said.

According to Habana, this victory was not the Bulls’ last.

“This was hopefully a foundation for our future players who will wear this wonderful jersey.”

Bulls centre Wynand Oliver will soon have to make the same decision.

Olivier has been flooded with offers from especially France, but he has indicated that he is in no hurry to decide.

“My situation is the same as Bryan’s, I have two months left to think about it. For now, I just want to enjoy this moment. There is still enough time to decide about the future,” he said.

Olivier missed the semi-final against the Crusaders due to an injured hip, but managed to finish Saturday’s game without any problems.

He was named man of the match by the commentators.

“At one stage I received a hard blow to my hip, but I could feel that I was all right. That was quite a relief. I was very happy I could carry on.”

Olivier went on to express his delight with his Super 14 season.

“It went well and I couldn’t have asked for more. The final in front of our home crowd was a special moment.”

He had sympathy for his fellow centre, Jaco Pretorius, who missed his first Super 14 try after losing the ball just before scoring.

“The moment was perhaps just a little too big for him. He was a bit sad afterwards. We tried to give him another chance but it didn’t work out.”

“But he had a very good match, so that lost opportunity will probably not bother him for long,” said Olivier.
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