Bryan Habana

[Horacito]

Os du Randt is the best player SA ever had.

Bryan Habana is the wing of his generation and is by right one of the best finishers in the history of the game. The problem is that rate wingers is difficult due to the spectacular nature of their position (they score almost more than any other position on the field, the hype is enormous) and seemingly simple technique. The truth is that you need a touch to be a winger, not even talking about performing with such excellency over ten years.

But truth be said, amazing wingers come up all the time and they allways ask the same question about them: is he bettet than Lomu? Lomu was a player of this era twenty years ago, Habana is a player of this era on this era, and that is a great difference.

Man, I just sympathize with wings, they have it hard. If you don't score every match people start to doubt you in no time. Julian Savea is feeling that now.

It's amazing how, in rugby, we ignore other players' skills and look down on them, and then we percieve and appreciate all the subtle, fine aspects of our own.

 

[tompaton7]

Of those 15 tries, only 3 are against tier 1 nations (2 v Argentina and 1 v Scotland). 6 are against Samoa, 5 against the USA and 1 v Namibia. Compare that to Lomu's record. 2 v Ireland, 2 v Scotland, 5 v England, 2 v Tonga, 2 v Italy, 2 v France. So 11 out of 15 are against Tier 1 nations. Even more notably 8 of his tries were in finals matches as opposed to 2 of Habana's. Add in the fact that he played 11 games to get there as opposed to Habana's 15, then I think it's safe to say we can't really compare the two in World Cups even if Habana breaks the record.

That said, I do think Habana has been one of the most complete wingers of the modern era. He is an outstanding defender, brilliant at making turnovers and has extreme pace. He is definitely South Africa's greatest ever winger and very much up there with the best wingers of the professional era. Also his when comparing to Lomu in between world cups, it can be seen that he has scored a lot of tries against big teams with 7 v New Zealand and 9 v Australia which is a pretty pretty good return. I recall Lomu never actually scored v the Boks.

 

[Mcfadden]

Os du Randt is the best player SA ever had.

Bryan Habana is the wing of his generation and is by right one of the best finishers in the history of the game. The problem is that rate wingers is difficult due to the spectacular nature of their position (they score almost more than any other position on the field, the hype is enormous) and seemingly simple technique. The truth is that you need a touch to be a winger, not even talking about performing with such excellency over ten years.

But truth be said, amazing wingers come up all the time and they allways ask the same question about them: is he bettet than Lomu? Lomu was a player of this era twenty years ago, Habana is a player of this era on this era, and that is a great difference.

Man, I just sympathize with wings, they have it hard. If you don't score every match people start to doubt you in no time. Julian Savea is feeling that now.

It's amazing how, in rugby, we ignore other players' skills and look down on them, and then we percieve and appreciate all the subtle, fine aspects of our own.

Savea has been scoring plenty of tries this World Cup, but he's still copped flak for trying certain techniques which probably wouldn't work against major opposition in a knock out game. We're just lucky that those teams who he's finished off opportunities against were called Georgia and Namibia. Having said that, he's definitely improved a bit.

Os du Randt was an awesome scrummager, and probably epitomized what a prop should be before the pace of the game sped up and rugby became more modernized. I dunno, surely SA have a much more well rounded player to be considered their best.

 

[Fard]

Savea has been scoring plenty of tries this World Cup, but he's still copped flak for trying certain techniques which probably wouldn't work against major opposition in a knock out game. We're just lucky that those teams who he's finished off opportunities against were called Georgia and Namibia. Having said that, he's definitely improved a bit.

Os du Randt was an awesome scrummager, and probably epitomized what a prop should be before the pace of the game sped up and rugby became more modernized. I dunno, surely SA have a much more well rounded player to be considered their best.

Os du Rant was pretty round.

 

[TRF_heineken]

I'm not saying he isn't great. I'm just saying I don't think he's the greatest. Lomu scored us heaps of tries, but he's not our best either IMO. He's probably the best in the world in terms of outright speed. I never thought his skills diversified beyond that.

Who is this "OUR" you are talking about?? in this thread it looks like you're a New Zealander, and in another thread you use this term towards the Wales. pick a side man!

Anyways. I think there were a lot of great players who were better than Habana:

Amateur Era:
Frik Du Preez
Naas Botha
Danie Gerber

Proffessional Era:
John Smit
Os Du Randt
Percy Montgomery
Joost van der Westhuizen
Andre Joubert
Ruben Kruger

But this is just my opinion. Habana is great, but to call him the greatest is a bit of stretch.

Frik Du Preez won the award for Springbok of the Century, and this is just the beginning of the next century, so Habana's odds of winning that looks rather dim...

 

[YoungScud]

Joost for me is the greatest, but Habana is possibly the best diver.

 

[austingtir]

Joost for me is the greatest, but Habana is possibly the best diver.

^^^
LOL

Joost certainly be my pick of the last 20 years or so though. Joost was up againt the two other great halfbacks of this era for me and he probably shaded them most of the time!

 

[Kiwi_]

I reckon he is, his try record is outstanding, he's kept himself really fit, hasn't lost much pace, stayed relatively injury free. Pretty awesome player and person, if anyone was to break Lomu's record I would have no issues with it being Habana. In time it will be appreciated more, time seems to add more "legendary" status to players.

 

[saulan]

I reckon he is, his try record is outstanding, he's kept himself really fit, hasn't lost much pace, stayed relatively injury free. Pretty awesome player and person, if anyone was to break Lomu's record I would have no issues with it being Habana. In time it will be appreciated more, time seems to add more "legendary" status to players.

I feel like not enough credit is really given to his longevity in the national set up and his consistency throughout his career. He is the most capped international wing and the second most capped Springbok behind Captain Silverbeard Matfield. Even though he has had try scoring dry spells, he has always kept a high work rate, getting involved in defence, rucks and even turnovers. I think the lack of injuries is down to luck really, but keeping his pace over his 12 year international career. He may not have the ability to run over players, but he has a knack for being in the right place at the right time and has always been a dangerous runner.

Is he our best player ever? I don't know, I think your comment is quite apt, once he has retired we will have a better idea as we currently focus on his latest career performances instead of keeping his 2007 heroics in mind and consistency. I think it is fair to say he is the best Springbok wing we have had and if I had to pick an all time RWC xv I would definitely have him in the back three (along with Lomu and Campese).

 

[WaterboySA]

Joost for me is the greatest, but Habana is possibly the best diver.

What's the diffs between Brian Habana and the Scottish fullback?????? About 10 000 tries........

 

[TRF_heineken]

Joost for me is the greatest, but Habana is possibly the best diver.

Ahem:

 

[YoungScud]

What's the diffs between Brian Habana and the Scottish fullback?????? About 10 000 tries........

Oh that makes it OK then.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Oh that makes it OK then.

Well at least he's playing for his nation of birth and isn't a hired mercenary...

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I love Habana. But I don't even know if he is the greatest SA player in this squad and certainly not all time! I mean, if I were picking the Bok matchday squad Habana's name wouldn't be the first I'd pen down is what I'm getting at.

That said he is level with Lomu on tries scored at a single RWC (8) and level with Lomu on all time tries (15) at RWCS despite having more RWC games. Will he add more? Will he become the most prolific try scorer overall- who is it currently Daihata (spelling?). Its probably more a testament of his endurance and continued class more than anything. Lets also not forget that Habana's record is in the pro era and not the still amateurish days where Lomu did his thing; two totally different beast. Also, Habana's Springboks has over the years not always been the type of team and following a game plan that is friendly to a winger's try chances. He also has a lot of other factors in his favor and is arguably a bit more rounded.

Back to the OP's question; certainly a legend of SA rugby and will make anyone's all time Bok XV along with probably Carel du Plessis on the other wing even if probably not top Bok ever.

 

[WaterboySA]

Just think what Danie Gerber could do with De Alende as partner?

Habana's a great finisher, and he looks for work. Not even close to the best Bok ever.

 

[Icemn]

No. He can run quick, that is about it.

give this man a bells!

i've never rated Banana actually...

He's played 3 world cups now but only because there is no-one else in the SA setup "who has experience and knows how to win"... so Banana gets to play 15 games

look at the other players he is up against like Lomu and Howlett... Lomu played in 2 wc and only played what? 8 or 10 games? Banana (because of no competition regarding selection) get to play 3 wcs

i think if he breaks lomu's record, no-one will be able to beat that, not with the amount of competition when it comes to selection, 1 player might only play 1 maybe 2 RWC going forward with x amount of starts let alone tries...

if someone breaks the 15 try record in LESS amount of games Lomu played, id be fcking impressed... but Banana? plsssss...

 

[HowieLO6]

Just think what Danie Gerber could do with De Alende as partner?

Habana's a great finisher, and he looks for work. Not even close to the best Bok ever.

It seems that anyone of a certain age who was lucky enough to see Danie Gerber play consistently chooses him as the finest Bok to have ever worn the jersey, amateur or otherwise. Just a shame he was playing the game at a time when he wasn't shared with the rest of the world!

Personally, I wouldn't count Habana as their greatest modern winger, let alone greatest ever player.

 

[WaterboySA]

Icemn - Like Vin Diesel says in Fast&Furious...no matter how far you win, winning's winning. It doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning's winning......even if Brian(The King) Habana breaks the record in 50 games, if he breaks it he breaks it.

PS: You know SA owned Lomu's ass right?Not that I would badmouth the big guy, I mean he used to be married to a South African woman, so he's half South African in my eyes......

 

[YoungScud]

Well at least he's playing for his nation of birth and isn't a hired mercenary...

Kind of likeThe Beast, you mean?

 

[TheOvalBall]

Habana may well be the best wing ever in SA but not anywhere near the best winger in the world. As far as the best player for SA ever not in my life time. I think
Joost vd Westhuizen is. Won't comment about the years they were out in the cold.

Yeah. Joost was pretty special.