Bryan Habana

Bryan Gary Habana OIS (born 12 June 1983) is a South African former professional rugby union player.

Playing mainly as a wing, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.

He played for the, the and in South Africa, for the and the in Super Rugby, and for Toulon in the French Top 14, and won 124 caps for the South Africa national team.

He was a member of the South Africa Sevens side in the 2003–2004 World Sevens Series.

He made his Currie Cup debut for the Golden Lions in 2004, doing well enough to be voted the country's most promising player that year.

That November, he made his Test debut against England at Twickenham aged 21.

Though the game was lost 32–16, Habana came on as a reserve to score a try with his first touch of the ball against the then World Cup holders.

The following week Habana was moved into the starting line-up, where he contributed two tries to the 45–10 win over Scotland at Murrayfield.

The next week, he was selected in the same position, on the left wing, in that year's final match against Argentina in Buenos Aires.

In 2005, he moved to the Blue Bulls.

Following the 2005 Super 12 season, Habana was, as expected, included in the 2005 Springboks squad.

He played on the left wing in South Africa's opening match of 2005 against Uruguay, whom the Springboks defeated 134–3, with Habana scoring two tries.

South Africa then hosted France for a two test series; drawing the first 30-all, and winning the second 27–13, with Habana scoring two tries in both games.

In the lead-up to the 2005 Tri Nations, Habana played in two tests against Australia, the first, a loss at Telstra Stadium, and then a 33–20 win at home at Ellis Park, with Habana scoring in the second Test.

Habana made his Tri Nations debut on 30 July against the Wallabies at the Bulls' home of Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

South Africa won the match 22–16.

The subsequent match against the All Blacks at Newlands was also a win for South Africa.

In the second match against Australia in Perth, Habana scored two tries in the 22–19 win.

The All Blacks won the last match of the series, a thrilling 31–27 win for the New Zealanders at Carisbrook.

Although South Africa did not win the series, Habana had established himself on the international stage, finishing as the tournament's joint highest try-scorer with New Zealands' Doug Howlett and Joe Rokocoko.

In the Currie Cup, the Blue Bulls made it to the final, which was played at home at Loftus Versfeld, against the Free State Cheetahs.

The Cheetahs, somewhat underdogs, won the final.

In November of that year, Habana earned caps for South Africa against Argentina, Wales and France, scoring two tries in the Welsh match.

Habana was named to the five-man shortlist for 2005 IRB World Player of the Year, and was also selected by SA Rugby as 2005 South Africa Player of the Year in 2005.

The Springboks endured a poor year in 2006 as they lost four of their six tri nations matches.

They also lost to France in the midyear test and lost to Ireland 32–15 – a game in which Habana was averted to centre for the first time in a Springbok shirt.

He scored a try.

They then lost to England in the first test but gained revenge in the second test.

Habana was part of the South Africa team that won the 2007 Rugby World Cup and was one of the stars of the tournament, his eight tries equalling the record for a single tournament set by Jonah Lomu in 1999.

He was subsequently named the 2007 IRB Player of the Year.

In April 2007 Habana competed against a cheetah in a 100-meter race to help raise awareness of the imminent danger of the cheetah being classified as an endangered species, according to De Wildt officials.

He lost, because cheetahs can run 70 mph, instead of 22 mph.

Habana's most dramatic act of the 2007 Super 14 season was his last minute try in the final, enabling flyhalf Derick Hougaard to make an easy conversion and giving the Bulls a dramatic 20–19 victory over the Sharks.

The try was especially hard to take for Sharks fans as it was debated if Habana should have even been on the field after dangerously tackling fullback Percy Montgomery in the air, in the opening minutes of the game.

Habana later admitted in an interview that, despite not intending to cause Montgomery harm, he should have been sent off for the challenge.

During the 2015 Rugby World Cup Habana equalled Lomu's career record of 15 tries in World Cups.

He is in second place among all time test try scorers, with 67 tries.

Habana was born in Johannesburg and named Bryan Gary Habana, after former Manchester United footballers Bryan Robson and Gary Bailey.

Habana was educated at King Edward VII School and Rand Afrikaans University (now known as the University of Johannesburg).

He played outside centre and scrum-half in provincial and age group rugby.