Bryan Habana

Bryan Gary Habana (born 12 June 1983 in Benoni, Gauteng Province) is a South African rugby union player who plays as a wing for Toulon in the French Top 14 competition, as well as 2007 Rugby World Cup champions Springboks. Habana was one of the stars of the World Cup, his eight tries equalling the record set by Jonah Lomu in 1999, and was named the 2007 IRB Player of the Year.

During the 2015 Rugby World Cup he equalled Lomu's record of 15 tries, and also moved into the joint second place of all time test try scorers, with a tally of 64.

Named after former Manchester United footballers Bryan Robson and Gary Bailey, he played outside centre and scrumhalf in provincial and age group rugby, but once he was moved to the wing a vast improvement was seen. Prior to his first year of Super Rugby he was selected for the Springboks, scoring a try with his first touch of the ball in test rugby in the end-of-season match against England at Twickenham in 2004.

Career

Early career

Habana, developed by the Golden Lions and educated at King Edward VII School and Rand Afrikaans University (now known as the University of Johannesburg), made his first senior international appearances as a member of the South African Sevens side in the 2003–04 World Sevens Series. He made his Currie Cup debut for the 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 as a 21-year-old. Though the game was lost 32–16, Habana came on as a reserve to score a try on debut against the then world champions. 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. Although he did not score any tries in the Argentina game, his record then stood at three tries from three tests.