Habana dismisses concerns over Boks' erratic form

News24
12 Jun 2019, 18:42 GMT+10

Cape Town - Legendary former Springbok wing Bryan Habana on Wednesday dismissed concerns over his country's erratic recent form in Test rugby.

Habana was speaking at an event in Tokyo to mark the 100-day countdown of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, where organisers unveiled a countdown clock and flagged off a domestic trophy tour in which the Webb Ellis Cup will visit all 12 host cities.

The Springboks, under the guidance of Rassie Erasmus, won seven and lost seven Tests in 2018.

"Inconsistency has probably been their biggest foe," Test rugby's second highest try-scorer and a World Cup winner in 2007 admitted. "But if you compare it to the run-in to the 2007 World Cup - we lost 49-0 to Australia a year out and went on to win it. They can definitely be a force to be reckoned with."

Four years ago, Habana was part of the Springboks side which suffered a stunning 34-32 defeat by Japan. He warned there would be no pushovers at this year's World Cup.

"It was probably a one-in-a-million shot that Japan had and they took it," Habana said. "It showed you can't take any game for granted."

Asked to tip a winner, Habana, who turned 36 on Wednesday, kept his counsel.

"If you'd have asked me that question in January, I would have said Ireland were the team to beat," he said.

"New Zealand will potentially go in as favourites but the special thing about this World Cup is that it really is too tight to call."

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to China National News.

More Information

26 ℃

Fair in Shanghai/Hongqiao

International

Section

News Corp shuts down 112 historic Australian newspapers

SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - The largest publisher of newspapers in Australia, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has closed 112 suburban and ...

U.S. president to step up pressure on Facebook, Twitter

WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Thursday regarding social media platforms, after Twitter tagged ...

Hair salons adapt to evolving new standards

When this writer recently looked into the mirror and took a good look at how long his hair had grown ...

How London's 100 or so billionaires are faring

Over cups of tea in his ramshackle London home I chatted with a novelist. It felt a valuable opportunity, given ...

Are the Golden Days over?

As lockdown measures start to be eased in most countries around the world, the experts of The Conversation's global network ...

Australian-based News Corp reporter and whistleblower escape charges

CANBERRA, Australia - Australian Federal Police said Wednesday they were dropping an investigation of a prominent journalist who obtained classified ...