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Heat mounts on Habana

Comment: Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer

Cape Town - Bryan Habana is under greater pressure than ever now to justify his continued presence in the Stormers starting line-up.

Or at least should be.

A common denominator in the franchise’s Super Rugby starting XV this season has been the experienced Springbok’s stubborn pencilling-in, whenever fit, by coach Allister Coetzee on the left wing.

Just as routine, too, has been Habana’s unfathomable, glaringly obvious, below-known-best-levels form ... a slump from which he has shown no special signs of emerging, whatever protest to the contrary the Stormers’ spin doctors may try to sell you.

You have to feel some sympathy for the ailing superstar, of course: it is not as though the once tornado-like try-scorer is simply resting complacently on his laurels.

The more he struggles to impose himself on games this season, the more he simultaneously tries to compensate by showing a strong work-rate and especially gutsy commitment on defence.

Trouble is, the more he twitchily “comes off his line” through over-anxiety to contribute meaningfully at times, the more the team can be made to look vulnerable in an area they traditionally strive to pride themselves on: denying the opposition tries.

A couple of times in the last-gasp victory over the Blues, Habana’s swift, alert crossing of the field on cover-defence to slide in and arrest the dangerous “dink” or grubber  came in extremely handy.

A counter-argument might be that the seasoned Bok is simply doing what he ought to be relied upon to do (keeping in mind also that his personal kicking game in defensive situations isn’t the greatest we have ever seen in his position).

And I’m afraid it remains all too evident that he is dangerously out of general sorts: his body language, marked by near-perpetual head-shaking whenever he stuffs up or his offensive passage is unceremoniously blocked, offers all the stark confirmation you need.

For whatever reason, there are people taking pleasure in Habana’s 2011 torment: I am among those observers only wishing the proven, world-class performer well in his quest to return to his prior majesty.

But when is enough really enough?

On Saturday the Stormers will go into important battle with the Brumbies – it seems a relatively “easy” fixture, but I would caution quite forcefully against that label as the Stormers have never won in Canberra! – with a decent enough starting XV on paper, and one marked by a very wise and timely “rotation” as overworked Duane Vermeulen makes way for promising Nick Koster at No 8.

I suggest that the team would look even better if Habana had been put out of his misery and been named among the “impact” reserves – who knows, maybe a role that could suddenly have turned around his front-foot fortunes as Brumbies legs started to tire after half-time?

Instead the backline looks unjustifiably unbalanced to me, with a palpably struggling soldier at left wing, yet some outside backs on the bench – read: Jean de Villiers and Johann Sadie – most Super Rugby coaches would give their  eye teeth for as starters in the present, high-stakes climate.

It is possible, of course, that in De Villiers’s case he is being “eased” back in after a brief stint on the crocked list, but talk-of-the-town Sadie, as far as I am aware, is fully fit and firing.

Coetzee has made some marvellous selections at times this season, just one of the reasons why the Stormers, as they did last year, continue to show strong signs that the Newlands trophy drought isn’t terribly far from ending.

There have been occasions, especially in early campaign, when I have scratched my own head as he has bravely put his faith in fresh-faced “youths” ... who have often only gone on to heart-warmingly justify the confidence he has shown in them. This sort of policy will pay ever-strengthening dividends, you would think.

Coetzee is, at the very least, consistent in his belief in “specialists”, even if I often lean a little more toward the camp which suggests you put your best players on the park as much as possible, and their quality will simultaneously reveal comfortable versatility.

So yes, he has proved some of my Stormers reservations unfounded before.

But he may have to do so once more ...

Teams:

Brumbies:

TBA

Stormers:
15. Conrad Jantjes, 14. Gio Aplon, 13. Jaque Fourie, 12. Juan de Jongh, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Peter Grant/Kurt Coleman, 9. Dewaldt Duvenage, 8. Nick Koster, 7. Francois Louw, 6. Schalk Burger (captain), 5. Andries Bekker, 4. Rynhardt Elstadt, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Deon Fourie, 1. Wicus Blaauw
 
Substitutes: 16. Tiaan Liebenberg, 17. Steven Kitshoff, 18. Anton van Zyl, 19. Duane Vermeulen, 20. Ricky Januarie, 21. Jean de Villiers, 22. Johann Sadie
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