Bryan Habana

[Bull]

Habana causes no fear, Ray Mordt caused insomnia to a nation of rugby heads.

Taking into consideration the era Mordt played where guys weren't constantly on the practice field or gym he was built like a brick ****house. I think even in this day and age he would have had better conditioning than some players.

 

[The Jones Boy]

The great Mordt: As a player, he may be best known for scoring 3 tries against the All Blacks in the famous "flour bomb" Test at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand on 12 September 1981. South Africa lost the game 25–22. Ray Mordt played a total of 18 tests (plus 7 tour games[2]) for the Springboks, scoring 12 tries for a total of 48 points.
Mordt played Currie Cup rugby for Zimbabwe, Transvaal and Northern Transvaal and scored 35 career tries. As a coach Mordt has won the Currie Cup in 1994, coaching Transvaal.

During his rugby union playing career Mordt was nominated for the SA Rugby Young Player of the Year in 1978 and SA Rugby Player of the Year in 1981, 1983 and 1984.

Rugby league: Mordt was given a hard time by the rugby establishment in the Republic because he went on to a successful professional career in league, he was strong enough to cut it so good on him.
I can remember the All Black full back Joe Karam was vilified by the press in NZ when he made the change to League and left the AB's and went to League for a whopping $20,000 NZ dollars.
Haha sounds ridiculous now but back then it would have bought a house outright in NZ.
"Karam switched codes in 1975, signing a three-year deal with the Glenora Bears in the Auckland Rugby League competition $20,000 a year. Karam was horrified that players on the UK tour of 1971 got a pound a day as their living allowance while rugby officials "were flying around the world drinking champagne like it was going out of fashion". For players of "modest employment" slogging it out on the field for their country it meant that "their wife and children were starving back home".

 

[sharkfan]

Take nothing away from Habana, he has been a brilliant servant of the game and has had some amazing highs as well as some very mediocre seasons.

To compare him to Lomu is perhaps a stretch. Lomu's 15 tries come off just 10 games and 2 WC's. (Including 4 tries against England In the 1995 semi)

This is Habana's 3rd WC and I'm sure he has played far more than 10 matches to achieve his 15 tries.

In addressing who is the greatest I think it depends on the era. The game has evolved so much and especially in the pro era. I would rate a few players for this accolade. Keeping in mind that they each had different strengths that set them apart. Os du Rand, Joost vd Westhuizen, Mark Andrews, Andre Joubert, John Smit.

Then there is the cold years (1970's and 80's) when SA didn't get to participate fully on the international scene. There were some very talented players in that era who just never got the opportunities yet were giants of their time. Uli Schmidt, Danie Gerber, Rob Louw, Louis Moolman, Theuns Stofberg, Moaner V Heerden, Gerrie Germishuys, Morne du Plessis, Piet Visagie, Jan Ellis, Hannes Marais.

And the there is the unluckiest non-springbok of all time - Thys Lourens.

Also that great Springbok flyhalf with the blonde hair

 

[sharkfan]

Habana was maybe the best ever Springbok wing, but best player? Too difficult too say, there were so many good Boks over the years, Frik Du Preez, Danie Gerber, Joost vd Westhuizen. If Habana in his prime played alongside Gerber in his prime, goodness me that would have been beautiful!

 

[TobesHodges]

I do think Habana can have the accolade of one of the great wingers..

My personal best winger of all time was Rupeni Caucubauina, made rugby look ridiculously easy.

 

[Ospervat]

Also that great Springbok flyhalf with the blonde hair

You couldn't possibly be referring to Naas cos on the other hand Darren .........

 

[nickdnz]

I do think Habana can have the accolade of one of the great wingers..

My personal best winger of all time was Rupeni Caucubauina, made rugby look ridiculously easy.

Even if he began to look pregnant...

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Even if he began to look pregnant...

With triplets.

 

[Conal]

P Montgomery
O DuRandt
S Burger

are three off the top of my head who id consider better boks than him

 

[The Jones Boy]

Percy Montgomery hah, are you having a laugh?
He would be in my world 15 of hairdressers.

 

[Kiwi_]

Percy always looked like a washed-up 80-90's Hollywood action movie hero with that hair cut and facial features. Terrific player, definitely not the best though.

 

[sharkfan]

Maybe some of you saw this video before, but it is about what world rugby have been missing during the isolation years, arguably the best Bok centre ever, Danie Gerber https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE7sXwcbOgY

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

He's not even in my top5. Judging by the players I have seen play, this is my top5

- Joost van de Westhuizen
- Fourie du Preez
- Victor Matfield
- Joel Stransky
- Andre Joubert

 

[Game Face]

No.

He's a good player but not the best ever. He's a cheetah, If speed wasn't his number one attribute he wouldn't be that good.

 

[Canuck]

He's not even in my top5. Judging by the players I have seen play, this is my top5

- Joost van de Westhuizen
- Fourie du Preez
- Victor Matfield
- Joel Stransky
- Andre Joubert

I'm shocked it took this long for someone to mention Matfield.

I'm a huge Habana fan always loved the guy, his talent, highlight reel footwork and enthusiasm for playing the game, but it's so difficult to compare rugby players from different positions let alone different eras. I consider Os du Randt the greatest prop of all time and I rate Matfield as the greatest 5 of all time, and Joost as the greatest 9 of all time. I'm not sure how I would rank all those guys against each other though.

I would say that Habana has probably had the greatest career out of any professional winger but that doesn't necessarily make him better than someone like Lomu at his peak. Habana has enjoyed a longevity to his career that many others could only dream of. I still say that Joeli Vidiri is one of the greatest wingers I have ever seen and he only got to play 2 tests for the ABs.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Well, let's not forget the years 2010-2013 where he was God awful and couldn't buy a try. He hit a wall when he was about to break the try record. He even struggled against Italy twice. He got over the bump in the road and moved on to become arguably better and more all round than he was before. His defense has really improved.

 

[saulan]

Well, let's not forget the years 2010-2013 where he was God awful and couldn't buy a try. He hit a wall when he was about to break the try record. He even struggled against Italy twice. He got over the bump in the road and moved on to become arguably better and more all round than he was before. His defense has really improved.

Your time period is a bit longer than what it was in reality. In the 2012 rugby championship he was the leading try scorer with 7, and in 2013 he was tied 3 with 3. Also if you look at his tries scored list, he had dry years in 2010 and 2011 (only 2 springbok tries each), but since then he has been scoring well. But Habana doesn't only just score tries. He has always had a high work rate and got involved in tackles, rucks, turnovers and highballs as often as he could, which is why he kept his place in the side when he wasn't scoring tries.

 

[HowieLO6]

He's not even in my top5. Judging by the players I have seen play, this is my top5

- Joost van de Westhuizen
- Fourie du Preez
- Victor Matfield
- Joel Stransky
- Andre Joubert

Does Stransky warrant a mention? Bar his mercurial kick, I never thought he was quite that good; world class, clearly, but in no way warrants mentioning alongside Andre Joubert. But then again, not many do. He was nigh-on perfect, sliced open defences like Japanese steel.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Does Stransky warrant a mention? Bar his mercurial kick, I never thought he was quite that good; world class, clearly, but in no way warrants mentioning alongside Andre Joubert. But then again, not many do. He was nigh-on perfect, sliced open defences like Japanese steel.

Well it's a matter of opinion.

Some see Stransky as one of the top Boks, Some don't. I was too young to remember many of his matches apart from the World Cup in '95. But he certainly had Big Match temperament, and that alone gives him a shout to be on the list.

If I would have to make a list of Top Bok fly halves it would look like this:
1. Naas Botha
2. Henry Honiball
3. Morne Steyn
4. Jannie De Beer
5. Joel Stransky

 

[HowieLO6]

Well it's a matter of opinion.

Some see Stransky as one of the top Boks, Some don't. I was too young to remember many of his matches apart from the World Cup in '95. But he certainly had Big Match temperament, and that alone gives him a shout to be on the list.

If I would have to make a list of Top Bok fly halves it would look like this:
1. Naas Botha
2. Henry Honiball
3. Morne Steyn
4. Jannie De Beer
5. Joel Stransky

As long as you've got Henry up there, you can put Stransky wherever you so wish!

I didn't see much of him aside from '95 and his years at Leicester, so I'm somewhat uneducated on the subject. Always struck me as a better Paul Grayson. less expectation on flyhalves then, I guess.

Honiball, on the other hand, proved to be a bit of an obsession of mine. Was devastated when de Beer took his spot for the '97 Tri Nations.