Stephen Nell
Cape Town – Western Province are poised to make a large offer for the services of Springbok wing and Blue Bulls hero Bryan Habana.
Province coach Rassie Erasmus met Habana and his father, Bernie, on Monday.
He also confirmed that he has his sights set on promising young Cheetahs flyhalf Lionel Cronjé.
“I met Bryan and discussed his potential role here. The next step is to make an offer. I suppose our chances will be as good as that of the other provinces,” said Erasmus.
“Bryan will be an asset to any team. He is the best wing in the world and we need a world class outside back to be competitive in the Super14.
“He is a current Springbok and will be able to help a young guy like JJ Engelbrecht. We don’t have much depth at wing and Bryan will complete the picture really nicely. Of course, we have no guarantee that he will be coming.”
Habana’s contract with the Blue Bulls expires at the end of October.
It is believed that he was due to meet his coach, Frans Ludeke, on Tuesday night.
However, WP are offering big money. They recently also tried to lure Springbok centre Wynand Olivier with an offer believed to be in the region of R2.8m per season. However, Olivier decided to extend his contract at the Bulls for less money.
Bulls commercial manager Ian Schwartz said that they would love to keep Habana, but a ridiculous offer will not be made.
“Bryan’s contract expires at the end of the year and any province or club is within its rights to speak to him. If you don’t, you have no clue as to what constitutes talent,” said Schwartz.
“First prize for us is to keep him because we consider him the best in the world. I don’t know what WP are offering, but we can only work within the financial structures. It’s a fair structure that applies to all players.
“If we make extravagant offers, it will damage the game.”
Meanwhile, Lions centre Jaque Fourie is still keen to join WP. The Lions maintain he is under contract with them until October next year, but Fourie does not believe it is binding.
The Stormers will be without captain Jean de Villiers next year after he agreed to a deal with Munster.
However, the Irish side will have to cough up over R1m for a transfer fee if they want him before September 17 so that he can be available to play in the Heineken Cup.
Cronjé is considered one of the country’s most promising young flyhalves and will be a welcome addition for WP if he decides to turn his back on the Cheetahs.
“We’ll definitely be interested should he be available,” said Erasmus.
Janne wat shop…
Trots op Wynand wat die Bulle gekies het vir minder geld. Kom Habana, doen dieselfde.
Die Lional Cronje wat Rassie wil koop, is hy familie van Guy Cronje?
Wat my bietjie bekommer oor Habana is twee goed.
1) Sy pa. Sy pa jaag graag geld
2) Hyt voorheen die Leeus vir die Bulle verruil
Hy het darem destyds nee gese vir die Sharks vir groot bedrae, ek hoop hy doen dit weer. Ek sal graag Habana en VD Heever as die Bulls se vleuels wil sien.
As WP R2.8 miljoen vir Wynand kon offer, hoeveel bied hulle Mossie aan en hoeveel gaan hulle Habana aanbied?!
@Supa Die Bloubul –
# 3
More Supa.
Nee, nie familie nie.
Die Cronje skakelpaar in KZN is n tweeling.
Sover ek weet kom Lionel die OP/Grens af.
Ek weet wraggies nie hoekom Rassie ten duurste in Habana belangstel nie, daar is goeie jong ouens in die Kaap wat hy met daai geld kan ontwikkel.
Habana by WP is so onvanpas as Kaizer Chiefs op Nuweland…..
As ek die Bulle is bied ek Habahna sy ou kontrak aan met n 10% verhoging, en ‘that’s it, take it or leave it’.
Ek weet darem nie of Habana nog 2 miljoen werd is nie, sy driee het opgedroog. Sy aandag is nou te veel op verdedig.
As die Bulle sy span kan behou se met 85% dan sal nuwe bloed n baie goeie inspuiting wees. Kyk hoe maklik het ons WO vervang in die semi teen die Crusaders, solank die res van die agterlyn intact is sal ons sonder hom kan klaarkom.
As hulle nou vir FdP koop slaat hulle ons laag.
Ek bail ook nou uit , nag.
@superBul –
Ne wat super. Habana is ons beste vleuel, daar is nie ander goeie vleuels nie. Ja, daar kom dalk n jong outjie of twee deur, maar hulle het nog n ent om te gaan.
The question should be, why in the world is Rassie so hell bend on finding another winger?
Another question, where does he get the money from? They must be digging very deep into their pockets, Rassie beter start winning something very soon or else he will not coach in SA again…and weepee will be down the drain!
Onthou julle die ou:
@Koos –
Well said Koos. Rassie is the only coach in SA with such a huge budget like this to buy basically whoever he wants. He’s been at WP for two years and still they havent reached a semi final of either the CC or s14. Loffie for example, had three years. Rassie needs to start winning trophies or all the money spend would be for nothing.
I wonder how long contract he has?
14 @Supa Die Bloubul –
It was fairly well known that not so long ago the WP Union was selling assets to balance the books. From this I assume that the money is coming from outside ‘investors’ rather than the Union, they will need a return on their investment and fairly quickly as well. If not the plug will be pulled in super quick time.
It does however feel like a last ditch effort at resurrecting the Union and if it fails the fall will be great…
I just cant imagine a WP backline with Meisiekind, Jacques Fourie and Habana in it…..doesn’t feel right.
Dunno why……
Piet,
Agreed, all the years following WP we have never had a problem with local talent, I cannot beleive that we have to buy to improve,there is something very wrong in this system.
Koos, how come Naka doesnt have his eye on “promising young Cheetahs flyhalf Lionel Cronjé.”
18 @Manlybok – Dan vra jy nog?
I think Naka has his eye on the Cheetah Cheerleaders most of the time.
I thought it was the players’ wives/girlfriends…was it not?
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