For someone who once famously raced a cheetah, Bryan Habana has made an impressive fist of ensuring his career has been a marathon rather than a sprint. It is more than 10 years since a 21-year-old Habana made a try-scoring debut for South Africa at Twickenham, and in that time he has won two Super Rugby titles, the 2007 World Cup, last year’s Heineken Cup and Top 14 double as well as scoring international try No57 last November.
All this when international wings are getting bigger, faster, stronger and younger – George North has more than 50 caps, aged 22, but his career could already be in danger, according to some commentators, should he take another blow to the head.
Habana, now 31, continues to shine among Toulon’s galaxy of star names. An injury-hit first season in France still culminated in his first European Cup last May and with a home quarter-final against Wasps on Sunday they are favourites for another. Jonny Wilkinson has gone but Habana has weighed in eight tries in 12 appearances this season as he looks to guide Toulon to an unprecedented third consecutive European Cup before attempting to join the select band of players with two World Cup winners’ medals. So what is his secret?
“It does get harder to keep doing it, without a doubt,” says Habana. “It’s probably like that for all players that want to be seen as the best. I think the pressure you put on yourself is to constantly succeed and that pressure only becomes more once you are a world champion and once you are a title holder. If you want to stay at No1 then you gotta train like you’re No2.
“The drive is still there and for me it is about playing a level of rugby that is good enough to be selected for the World Cup and being in an environment where you are constantly driven by the players around you.”
Born in 1983, Habana will be among the oldest World Cup wings and should South Africa face England he will feel positively ancient. England cut loose against France in the Six Nations climax with Jack Nowell and Anthony Watson, a pair of 21-year-olds, out wide. Wasps’ Christian Wade, at 23, cannot get near the side but after a hat-trick against Northampton last Friday, another impressive showing against Toulon may make Stuart Lancaster think again. Habana is a fan.
“He’s a player that didn’t get as many opportunities going into the Six Nations but I like Christian Wade. He has been playing exceptionally well for Wasps, he could put his hand up,” he adds. “I think the nice thing for Stuart Lancaster is that going into this World Cup he will have players who will be showing form and as a coach that’s all you can ask for. Nowell’s also been looking fantastic for Exeter, he’s got a lot of pace and a great skill set. If he runs and steps around forwards like he did in that French game he will do some impressive things.”
Autumn defeats to Wales and Ireland have seen South Africa’s odds for a third World Cup drift but the way they overpowered England at Twickenham means they are taken seriously, not least by Lancaster. The Springboks remain the one top-tier nation his side have not beaten. That autumn defeat exposed England’s midfield weaknesses, and the problem has been made worse with Manu Tuilagi’s groin injury refusing to go away. Habana believes England’s best partnership is a fit-again Tuilagi at No12 with Jonathan Joseph outside him, and he may have a point. England did manage a 14-14 draw in Port Elizabeth in 2012 – and no prizes for guessing who started that day.
“Tuilagi has had a big injury crisis over the last year but the gaps he creates for people around him – it is very, very impressive,” Habana says. “The Tuilagi brothers aren’t the smallest of animals and the space that they create means there is so much attention drawn to them and his distribution skills aren’t that bad. A combination of George Ford, Manu Tuilagi and Joseph would be very impressive.”
A mouth-watering prospect, considering the sort of damage Tuilagi might have done against the French, but before getting carried away, Habana offers a dose of realism. A northern hemisphere World Cup will be attritional, it lasts for six weeks – it, too, will be a marathon not a sprint. “I’m not too sure that teams will be playing such expansive rugby at the World Cup. You’ve got seven games to play the best brand of rugby that suits winning a World Cup,” he says. “The way teams are matched, it could come down to a single kick, decision, line break. There will be some very attractive rugby played in the pool stages but when it gets to the crunch, there will be a stage where three points, a drop goal could be the difference.”
Land Rover Ambassador Bryan Habana was speaking at the launch of ‘We Deal In Real’, Land Rover’s Rugby World Cup 2015 campaign. www.landrover.com/rugby @LandRoverRugby #WeDealInReal
