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100th Springbok Test - Bryan Habana

Posted on Thursday, 04 Sep 2014

100th Springbok Test - Bryan Habana

On Saturday, Bryan Gary Habana will become the fourth Springbok to play 100 Tests for South Africa.

 

Springbok number 766, Habana, was born in Johannesburg on 12 June 1983. He attended Meredale Primary and King Edward VII School before enrolling at the University of Johannesburg (then still called the Rand Afrikaans University) in B.Sc (Information Technology).

 

He made his provincial debut for the Golden Lions in 2003, his Test debut a year later and played the first of his 118 Vodacom Super Rugby matches in 2005.

 

To date, Habana has amassed 99 Tests and scored 56 tries, a South African record. He scored his first Test try with his first touch of the ball in an international, against then Rugby World Cup champions England at Twickenham.

 

On 22 September 2011 he scored his 39th Test try, against Namibia, to surpass Joost van der Westhuizen as the most-prolific try scorer in Springbok history. His 50th Test try was scored against Samoa on 22 June 2013.

 

All but one of Habana’s Test appearances have been on the wing – he played once at outside centre, against Ireland in 2006.

 

Earlier this week in Perth, where the Springboks are preparing to face Australia in the third round of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship, Habana said the focus should not be on his special milestone, but rather for the Boks to continue improving.

 

“It’s obviously very special for me to reach this milestone, but this weekend isn’t about me – it’s about the team and what we want to achieve,” said Habana.

 

“I’ve been blessed with many highlights during my career and I’m very thankful for that, as well as the magnificent support I’ve received from my family, friends, team-mates and coaches through the years.

 

“However, we have a job to do on Saturday and that remains the bottom line.”

 

Honours and accolades:

  • 2004: Springbok Sevens, SA Under-21, SA Young Player of the Year
  • 2005: SA Rugby Player of the Year, Vodacom Super Rugby Player of the Year, Supersport Try of the Year (Vodacom Bulls v Blues in Pretoria)
  • 2007: IRB Player of the Year, SA Rugby Player of the Year, scored eight tries at RWC to equal the record set by Jonah Lomu in 1995, Supersport Try of the Year (Vodacom Bulls v Cell C Sharks in Durban, Vodacom Super Rugby final)
  • 2012: SA Rugby Player of the Year, IRPA/Supersport Try of the Year (against New Zealand in Dunedin)

 

Test record against opponents:

 

P

W

L

D

T

C

P

Dg

Pts

Argentina

9

8

-

1

5

-

-

-

25

Australia

19

9

10

-

9

-

-

-

45

British Isles

2

2

-

-

1

-

-

-

5

England

11

8

2

1

6

-

-

-

30

Fiji

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

0

France

7

3

3

1

4

-

-

-

20

Ireland

3

1

2

-

1

-

-

-

5

Italy

5

5

-

-

4

-

-

-

20

Namibia

1

1

-

-

1

-

-

-

5

New Zealand

19

7

12

-

7

-

-

-

35

Samoa

3

3

-

-

7

-

-

-

35

Scotland

6

6

-

-

3

-

-

-

15

Tonga

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

0

Uruguay

1

1

-

-

2

-

-

-

10

USA

1

1

-

-

2

-

-

-

10

Wales

10

10

-

-

4

-

-

-

20

Totals

99

66

29

3

56

0

0

0

280

 

Test tries:

Nr

Opponent

Venue

Date

1

England

London

20/11/2004

2

Scotland

Edinburgh

27/11/2004

3

Scotland

Edinburgh

27/11/2004

4

Uruguay

East London

11/06/2005

5

Uruguay

East London

11/06/2005

6

France

Durban

18/06/2005

7

France

Durban

18/06/2005

8

France

Port Elizabeth

25/06/2005

9

France

Port Elizabeth

25/06/2005

10

Australia

Johannesburg

23/07/2005

11

Australia

Perth

20/08/2005

12

Australia

Perth

20/08/2005

13

New Zealand

Dunedin

27/08/2005

14

Wales

Cardiff

19/11/2005

15

Wales

Cardiff

19/11/2005

16

New Zealand

Rustenburg

02/09/2006

17

Ireland

Dublin

11/11/2006

18

England

Bloemfontein

26/05/2007

19

England

Bloemfontein

26/05/2007

20

England

Pretoria

02/06/2007

21

England

Pretoria

02/06/2007

22

Scotland

Edinburgh

25/08/2007

23

Samoa

Paris

09/09/2007

24

Samoa

Paris

09/09/2007

25

Samoa

Paris

09/09/2007

26

Samoa

Paris

09/09/2007

27

USA

Montpellier

30/09/2007

28

USA

Montpellier

30/09/2007

29

Argentina

Paris

14/10/2007

30

Argentina

Paris

14/10/2007

31

New Zealand

Wellington

05/07/2008

32

England

London

22/11/2008

33

British & Irish Lions

Pretoria

27/06/2009

34

Australia

Perth

29/08/2009

35

Australia

Perth

29/08/2009

36

Italy

Udine

21/11/2009

37

Italy

Witbank

19/06/2010

38

Italy

East London

26/06/2010

39

Namibia

North Shore City

22/09/2011

40

Samoa

North Shore City

30/11/2011

41

Argentina

Cape Town

18/08/2012

42

Australia

Perth

08/09/2012

43

New Zealand

Dunedin

15/09/2012

44

Australia

Pretoria

29/09/2012

45

Australia

Pretoria

29/09/2012

46

Australia

Pretoria

29/09/2012

47

New Zealand

Soweto

06/10/2012

48

Italy

Durban

08/06/2013

49

Samoa

Pretoria

22/06/2013

50

Samoa

Pretoria

22/06/2013

51

Argentina

Soweto

17/08/2013

52

New Zealand

Johannesburg

05/10/2013

53

New Zealand

Johannesburg

05/10/2013

54

Wales

Durban

14/06/2014

55

Wales

Durban

14/06/2014

56

Argentina

Salta

23/08/2014

 

Test tries per season:

2004

3

2005

12

2006

2

2007

13

2008

2

2009

4

2010

2

2011

2

2012

7

2013

6

2014

3

 

56

 

Provincial career:

2003-04: Golden Lions – 21 games, 17 tries, 85 points

2005-09: Blue Bulls – 14 games, 9 tries, 45 points

2010-12: Western Province – 8 games, 2 tries, 10 points

Total: 43 games, 28 tries, 140 points

 

Vodacom Super Rugby career:

2005-09: Vodacom Bulls – 61 games, 37 tries, 185 points

2010-13: DHL Stormers – 57 games, 19 tries, 95 points

Total: 118 games, 56 tries, 280 points

 

Overseas career:

2013-14: Toulon (France) – 10 games, 1 try, 5 points

2008, 2009 and 2011: Barbarians – 3 games, 3 tries

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