Habana to stay on the wing - for now
'I will leave him at No.11 and find another option at centre'
Springbok coach Jake White will not be playing Bulls try-scoring sensation Bryan Habana at centre against France, prompting speculation that hard-hitting local man De Wet Barry could earn a recall to the Bok starting XV for Saturday's clash against Les Bleus at Newlands.
Fit-again Habana, who started on the left-wing against Scotland this past weekend, enjoyed a cameo appearance at centre later in the match, suggesting that he would replace the unimpressive André Snyman at No.13, with Jaque Fourie once again unavailable because of a rib injury.
White, however, quickly nipped that suggestion in the bud.
"I don't think I'm going to do it this week," said the Bok coach, who was still reeling from the unfortunate injury news surrounding star flanker Schalk Burger on Monday. "Bryan wasn't as striking at centre as he has been on the wing. I will leave him at No.11 and find another option at centre."
Which leads us to Barry, who has not featured for South Africa at all this season, but with Fourie still sidelined and Snyman off his game (and nursing a right wrist injury), the hard-as-nails – yet limited – Stormers captain could return at inside centre, with greenhorn midfielder Wynand Olivier occupying the outside centre position. Snyman could then stay on the wing, if passed fit, with Gaffie du Toit or Brent Russell other selection options.
Olivier was solid in his first Test start – against Scotland – but the potential French midfield of Yannick Jauzion and Florian Fritz is a different proposition altogether, which could see the Bulls No.12 switch to No.13 where he would have more space to operate against a tighter defence, with Barry (a veteran of 38 Test caps) providing some stability and much-needed physicality from the crucial inside centre position.
Talk is that French boss Bernard Laporte will use Biarritz powerhouse Damien Traille – who has a booming boot – at flyhalf, with Toulouse stars Jauzion and Fritz at inside and outside centre respectively (a very physical 10-12-13 axis); making Barry's possible return to the side even more likely.
"I've heard talk about them playing Traille at flyhalf," confirmed White. "That means Jauzion and Fritz will play at centre, with Cédric Heymans and Vincent Clerc on the wing and Julien Laharrague at full back – that's not a bad backline. [But] if Traille does play at No.10 would it be like me playing an inside centre at fly-half? If it's a risk for us, would it not be a risk for them?"
And when quizzed about the make-up of his line-up, White added: "I will announce my team on Wednesday."
France warmed up for the one-off Test with a resounding 62-14 win over Romania at the weekend and the Springbok coach is expecting a tough encounter against the unpredictable Six Nations champions – despite all the talk of them being tired after a long season in Europe.
"I don't know what to believe anymore," said White. "Scotland were meant to be tired, but they arrived here two weeks ago as a team ready to beat us… they left at the weekend as a underachieving, tired Scottish team.
"The bottom line is, tired or not, if France turn it on they can play against anybody. Biarritz won their French championship and they've got a lot of those players in their squad and we all know about Toulouse. There's enough talent in their squad, that's for sure."
By Howard Kahn
