Habana Retiring

RE News 24

Cape Town - Springbok legend Bryan Habana has announced his retirement from all rugby at the end of the current season.

The 34-year-old, who is South Africa's all-time leading try scorer with 67 tries from his 124 Tests, confirmed the news in an Instagram post on Tuesday. 

"The inevitable moment has come knocking on my door and I’ve welcomed it in for a drink," Habana wrote.

"It's been more than a year of hoping, trying, pushing and willing to get back on the field for one last time, to taste the sweet victory or encounter that gut-wrenching despair.

"But it’s unfortunately just not to be. I, like most, would have liked my career to have ended differently, but sometimes things don’t turn out quite the way we hope for."

Habana will go down as one of the greatest Springboks of all time and one of the best wings in the game's history. 

The highlight of his career was winning the 2007 World Cup with Jake White's Springboks while he is also a two-time Super Rugby winner with the Bulls.

He was not playing rugby recently and I suppose it was due to injury.   A truly great and clever player. 

An amazing player.

Can easily put him in the same bracket as Lomu.

Will we ever see his like again?

Ka Mate 

Calm down Habana would replace all of the players you mentioned - he scored more tries against the AB's than any other wing and he sc ored more international tries than that lot you mentioned combined. 

Ka Mate 

Calm down Habana would replace all of the players you mentioned - he scored more tries against the AB's than any other wing and he sc ored more international tries than that lot you mentioned combined. 

Car Mat has no clue whatsoever.

Remember also Habana played i n what were for the most part disfunctional Bok backlines. A truly Great player.

Ka Maid flaunting his bias. Poor thing has been scarred for life by an unsuspecting Saffa. The hate is strong in this one.

If Habana Played in a NZ team he probably would have beaten his record of 67 tries. 

If you look at the coaches he had to play under before and poor match statistics. 

I think from 2006 when Jake brought him from obscurity where he was only playing currie cup to becoming the best winger at the 2007 world cup. 

The man is genius and was single handedly responsible for winning the bulls first Super Rugby title. Dying moments of the game and he flummox the entire sharks team to run it in from the 10 meter line. 

It was a pity that Snorre and Coetzee could never coach the boks to reach their full potential and release Habana properly. 

Probably one of the greatest players and a great gentleman to the game and knew what it meant to be a role model.

Yes, he had his dip in form but bounced back and could have helped him to be dropped a few times but then some of our coaches have completely dire. 

Time for that quota player to come back to SA and start some pro bono work to train his own kind.

Maybe it will help SA to get a few of them to decent professional level.

Habana was a useful enough player (for a Yarpie) but he would have struggled to crack a NZ Super Rugby side let alone the Mighty All Blacks.

You must be drilled as an AB to become an AB.

That quota player was not and was not material for the AB side.

He made his career on the WC title he got. A player you hired to sell tickets on the name alone.  He was already an has been when he got smoked by that US American player in 2007 .

Trad and Ka hating together, how cute!

Ka mate

Howlett - never a world class player - but maybe a star in New Zealand.     Not for me I am afraid even though I saw him play in a number of tests he was never special.   All players mentioned by you were played the fool with by Habana when he played against them.

Howlett had a drinking problem as well - but he started his own charity and may have sobered up since.   A controversial person by all accounts.  Too many run-ins with the Police it seems to me.

In any event you are welcome to him - but I am afraid that most people in world rugby would not even remember him. 

Bragging rights here, eat your hearts out....

First time I watched him play I realized the value of speed.  He was heading towards the try line on the far side of the field  ........thing that struck me was his sewing machine footwork.

And the next time was in a lift at a hotel in Newcastle at the 2015 RWC. By pure coincidence we'd booked our accommodation at the same hotel as the Boks. Just so happened that when the lift stopped he got in and we were the only ones in the lift.....I can't describe my feelings.... went into a state of shock.....I was stuck for words.....I must have mumbled his name.....he just smiled.... 

Speed, you either have it or you don't and what's more real speed is a rarity among sportsmen.

Boy, did he have some!

Ka Mate, you have nothing good to say about anything South African and is usually one of the first to jump onto anything negative from The Republic...it is obvious for all to see.

...and amongst other stupid things, you said Habana would have struggled to crack a NZ Super Rugby side?? 

Bryan's record speaks for itself...case sealed and closed.

Ka Mate is just another pissed off Coconut envious of the fact that they don't have the best wing in rugby history.

They keep trying to convince themselves that they have the best locks in the business today.

It's called desperation.

LOL!!!

Doug Howlett was an above average player, nothing special, Habana on the contrary was blessed with lightning speed, played in a side who didn't have the foggiest on how to pass a ball, who had no idea how to create space and today still are trying to learn backline play.

Do u get my drift?

Tx.

Ka Bra, have you ever heard of context?

Draad....please, I beg you with tears in my eyes....... keep it simple.

Nice post, SharkShit.

Couldn't have said it any better.

Bryan's record speaks for itself...case sealed and closed.

This quota player made his impressions during one world cup when he met his peak. That is all. The 2007 WC, his career peak . He milked the reputation he got from it, which is a common SA strategy as SA players are hired for the SA shirt ticket selling potential, not for their performances.

This player does not compare with many wings who had a full career.Who impressed at all levels and left marks in clubs. Figures do not tell the full story.

This guy is the story of one WC. That is all. Hard time finding any high level performance past that WC.