Stephen Nell
Pretoria - It’s amazing what difference one try can make to perceptions.
Bryan Habana gave away a try on a platter by losing the ball in his own goal area and made several handling errors prior to scoring the try that helped the Stormers beat the Bulls 23-13 in their Super Rugby match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The Springbok wing was praised afterwards by coach Allister Coetzee.
“Bryan scored that try when it mattered. People accuse me of using clichés when I say that form is temporary and class is permanent, but Bryan really stepped up,” said Coetzee.
“The team’s leadership and the rest of the guys deserve credit for supporting Bryan. We know he has always given everything since coming to Cape Town. He is definitely still a player to be reckoned with.”
Prior to the match, Coetzee spoke about the x-factor that Habana can bring to the game and there was certainly some of that evident in the manner that he chased Dewaldt Duvenage’s brilliant kick, scooped the ball up from under Bjorn Basson’s nose and scored the try.
It was the same corner in which he gifted Basson a try earlier in the match, but the try put the match out of the Bulls’ reach.
When Coetzee was asked to expand on his thoughts given that an objective assessment will probably show that Habana did not play particularly well, the coach emphasises how hard Habana worked.
“His work-rate is incredible – the manner in which he chases kicks, he does not miss tackles and he is very aggressive at the breakdowns,” said the coach.
“People tend to look at him only when he scores tries. I don’t look at the issue emotionally. I look at his work-rate, how often he gets his hands on the ball and how it contributes to the team’s success.
“Bryan is also not happy with his game. He wants to work at it and get it back to the level where it should be.”
Habana certainly deserves praise for his piece of individual brilliance.
With that he also won a psychological battle because he recovered from some big mistakes to positively influence the outcome of the match.
Confidence is a major factor in sport and a moment like that can mean a lot for a player. The challenge is now to build on that.
Habana does work hard and takes responsibility - mistakes by such players will inevitably be seen. But there are still too many mistakes in his game.
However, he now has something to build from and playing in a successful team should give him the opportunity to demonstrate why he should still wear South Africa’s No 11 jersey ahead of Lwazi Mvovo or even Basson.
Pretoria - It’s amazing what difference one try can make to perceptions.
Bryan Habana gave away a try on a platter by losing the ball in his own goal area and made several handling errors prior to scoring the try that helped the Stormers beat the Bulls 23-13 in their Super Rugby match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The Springbok wing was praised afterwards by coach Allister Coetzee.
“Bryan scored that try when it mattered. People accuse me of using clichés when I say that form is temporary and class is permanent, but Bryan really stepped up,” said Coetzee.
“The team’s leadership and the rest of the guys deserve credit for supporting Bryan. We know he has always given everything since coming to Cape Town. He is definitely still a player to be reckoned with.”
Prior to the match, Coetzee spoke about the x-factor that Habana can bring to the game and there was certainly some of that evident in the manner that he chased Dewaldt Duvenage’s brilliant kick, scooped the ball up from under Bjorn Basson’s nose and scored the try.
It was the same corner in which he gifted Basson a try earlier in the match, but the try put the match out of the Bulls’ reach.
When Coetzee was asked to expand on his thoughts given that an objective assessment will probably show that Habana did not play particularly well, the coach emphasises how hard Habana worked.
“His work-rate is incredible – the manner in which he chases kicks, he does not miss tackles and he is very aggressive at the breakdowns,” said the coach.
“People tend to look at him only when he scores tries. I don’t look at the issue emotionally. I look at his work-rate, how often he gets his hands on the ball and how it contributes to the team’s success.
“Bryan is also not happy with his game. He wants to work at it and get it back to the level where it should be.”
Habana certainly deserves praise for his piece of individual brilliance.
With that he also won a psychological battle because he recovered from some big mistakes to positively influence the outcome of the match.
Confidence is a major factor in sport and a moment like that can mean a lot for a player. The challenge is now to build on that.
Habana does work hard and takes responsibility - mistakes by such players will inevitably be seen. But there are still too many mistakes in his game.
However, he now has something to build from and playing in a successful team should give him the opportunity to demonstrate why he should still wear South Africa’s No 11 jersey ahead of Lwazi Mvovo or even Basson.