Comment: Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer

Cape Town – The Springboks are a disturbingly receding force in 2010, players and management alike under some inevitable and understandable pressure after a last-placed finish in the Tri-Nations.

GALLERY: Springboks v Wallabies, Bloemfontein

Emotions ran particularly high during their rollercoaster, last-ditch defeat to Australia in Bloemfontein on Saturday, which consigned them to bottom spot even with an all-Antipodean clash in the competition still remaining.

But that was no excuse for some in the local populace quite noticeably, and so rarely, taking out their wrath on one Bok player in particular … Bryan Habana.

There was a mounting crescendo of general booing in the disastrous first half as South Africa slipped to a near-unbelievable 31-6 deficit in a home Test, it is true.

But then left wing Habana suddenly seemed to become the lone target of abuse: you could see it mortify the stalwart player – although he did his manful and professional best to put it to the back of his mind – and flabbergast some of his long-time team-mates as well.

Perhaps this “treatment” played at least a partial role in the Boks’ astonishingly well-endowed fightback after the break, although Habana did not get the luxury of much personal action in the second period: he was put out his current, form-starved misery with Stormers stable-mate Gio Aplon sent on in his place.

But the singling out of Habana by a hopefully not too swollen bunch of morons left a sour taste in the mouth for the remainder of the chaotic contest.

For sure, there had been a strong case for battle-weary Habana, labouring for weeks, not being selected for this occasion. But he was … and no proud Springbok is going to say “no thanks” when the nod is given, is he?

His confidence, sharpness and energy are all quite clearly shot to pieces right now, as evidenced when he badly missed a tackle on his Wallaby mini-nemesis of the last two Saturdays, James O’Connor, in the lead-up to one of the tries in the Aussie blitzkrieg of the first half.

But if there’s one thing you can never lambast the 27-year-old over, it is his commitment to the cause even when his own planets are spinning crazily out of alignment.

He continues to put his compact body on the line, and this game was really no different in that regard, for all his various forms of current on-field angst and some obvious defensive gaffes.

Let it be said, too, that the Springboks have battled for some time to mount meaningful and sustained attacks in decent space down Habana’s side of the park, which hardly helps in his quest to shine more generally.

And it is not as if we are dealing here with some common-or-garden palooka of the Test fold – nor even someone, indeed, who especially falls into an inexplicable “favourite son” category in the eyes of his besieged coach. (Peter de Villiers has his always-thereabouts Ricky Januarie for that!)

No, Habana plays for South Africa because we all know so well what artistry he is capable of, not because he is the holder of some special-privileges ticket.

He has played 66 times for his country, scoring 38 tries and becoming revered as one of the most lethal finishers ever in the game, and it would be terribly foolish to discount the likelihood of his reaching the prestigious ton-up club one day.

Habana was IRB Player of the Year in 2007, the highest solo honour rugby union makes provision for, and scored a record-equalling eight tries on the triumphant Springbok march through the World Cup that year.

That is not the stuff to qualify you as some seriously weak link, is it?

The neutral Peter Bills, in the New Zealand Herald, picked up on Habana’s Bloemfontein indignity: “A player as great as Habana, world-class in anybody’s book, did not deserve his rough treatment at the hands of the mob.

“Bloemfontein fans should hang their heads in shame at turning on one of South Africa’s greatest ever players in such a manner.”

Like certain other heavily-flogged soldiers, Bryan Habana will be back for the Boks next year, refreshed in body and spirit, I’m sure.

And not because he has to prove some boo-boys wrong. He doesn’t need to do that, you see …