Ex Sport 24
Cape Town – Whatever the rights or wrongs of the phenomenon, the personality and history of Luke Watson, as much as the rugby player in him, clearly continues to awkwardly stalk the terrain he treads in.
You didn’t have to be at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday to pick up the unusually enthusiastic roar when substitute loose forward Jacques Engelbrecht (no world-beater, whatever his often fearless merits) replaced the labouring, controversial Kings captain early in the second half of the unexpectedly clear-cut 34-0 Super Rugby reverse at the hands of the Bulls on Saturday.
The reaction of a significant portion of the crowd of 46,000 was just as detectable to television viewers across the country.
Was it instructive, too, or purely coincidental that when Watson went off at 0-20, the Kings stopped leaking points for all of 32 minutes? (Luke not the main reason. Bulle ran out of steam and took it easy to recover?)
Later, in the SuperSport studio, straight-talking former Springbok coach Nick Mallett was moved to venture that Watson had looked “very underdone; very poor for his 50 minutes” in his comeback appearance from a reasonably lengthy throat injury.
Mallett went further, suggesting it was a “destabilising thing, him coming back (to a starting berth so soon)”.(Stupid move by Solomon but was he pushed at all. Play Luke off the bench)
Some observers would have simultaneously found some irony in his frank assessment, given that Mallett has traditionally been a staunch ally of the Kings’ director of rugby Alan Solomons – “Solly” was his assistant coach during that record unbeaten run by South Africa in the late 1990s.
Ah, and that word “destabilising” ... presumably Mallett meant it primarily in an immediate, situation-driven context, but there is also a lobby ready to contend that Watson is eternally that kind of elephant in the room.(What I find strange is that Bath made him their captain. Why was then if he is so divisive and has no leadership qualities - not however a great palyer)
This, we cannot forget, is a man reportedly deemed “the cancer of the team” by many squad-mates during his prickly little stint in the Springbok set-up.
Whatever the merits or demerits of the decision to fast-track the nuggety loose forward back to the starting XV against the Bulls, what could not be denied was that he was well below his known best levels of dynamic, multi-skilled performance.
And divisive character that he is, someone like Watson must only delight his army of detractors when he fails to cut the personal mustard.
Indeed, the pure bigots in their midst will gloriously overlook aspects like his try-saving tackle in at least one instance when the Bulls threatened the hard-pressed Kings’ line, and probably also the fact that Engelbrecht, on this occasion, was no great shakes either after entering the fray powered by such an elixir of public affection. (Englebrecht looks the more substantial player. Luke coming off a long injury was soeved into the team. Obviousl ywrong move but why. Solomosms is a shrewed coach)
You do wonder, at times like that, whether the strongly self-motivated Watson – give him some credit, he’s no emotional shrinking violet – ever yearns anew for more welcoming climes. (He is largely to blame for the frosty welcome. However he did aplogise so give him a fair deal I say. Judge him on his merits - no Bok candidate in my books and on merit right at this moment not a startyr for the kings. He would probably have done better staying in Bath but I believe he sincerely wants to help the kings)
In his stint at faraway Bath, for instance, he was branded “inspirational” as a player and popular off the field by then coach Steve Meehan.
In the unrelentingly complex, volatile South African landscape, Watson and others in his sporting family seldom occupy any kind of tranquil, birds-are-singing middle ground: adulation from one swollen constituency, revulsion from another, and disconcertingly little in between.(Judged on MERIT - how we must judge him - he is ordinary in a country blessed with huge loose forward depth)
Against that backdrop, Watson’s leadership of a Super Rugby side will always carry an array of obvious pros and cons.
Who wouldn’t wish to be a fly on the wall when Solomons, head coach Matt Sexton and others get down to the potentially delicate issue of discussing whether to have Watson run out first from the tunnel against the in-form Cheetahs in Bloemfontein this Saturday (19:10 kick-off)?
The one thing on the team brains trust’s side, should they decide to limit Watson’s possible participation to a more measured kind this time – ie, some game-time off the bench – is the purely rugby-based justification of shaky present form.(Exactly - in fairness to the team and also Luke himself)
Then again, they also say that the best way to restore a key player to peak performance after a layoff is to get as many game miles beneath the belt as possible, to make up for lost time.
But what we also know is that when the name Luke Watson comes up, a good deal more than just “the game-plan for Saturday” can be hovering tantalisingly within earshot of the agenda. Who would be so brave as to stake their house on the designated skipper for 2013 being unanimously feted in the dressing room?
A personal gut feel – and this comes from someone loath to ever under-value Watson’s fine playing credentials when at best health and fitness – is that any meaningful restoration of the Kings’ mojo at Free State Stadium is likelier to come with seasoned midfielder Andries Strauss leading out the troops against his former franchise.
Where that would leave Watson a little further up the road ... well, does anyone have the definitive answer to that?
Solomon will have to see how Luke goes. When properly fit he coul dmake a good impact player. If he reall plays well and can add more vaule than his competition start him. Man just judge him on merit. His captaincy is not missed - that much is clear.
