Suddenly the country is awash with flyhalves; so much so that it seems Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli is revisiting the idea of making Butch James into an inside centre. Given the same chances that Harry Viljoen gave James last year, Andre Pretorius made the number 10 shirt his own. Simultaneously, the remarkable Brent Russell made the number 20 shirt his own, the explanation for starting games with a reserve number on his back being, ”the number 10 shirt is two sizes too big for me”.
South of the Hex river there are still people willing to suggest that Chris Rossouw is worth another chance, although successive defeats for Western Province had more than a little to do with his sluggish option-taking. It was certainly the case against Free State two weeks ago when his opposite number read Rossouw’s planned move to perfection, intercepted the ball and created a try for Friedrich Lombaard.
And what of Jaco van der Westhuizen, the Bulls flyhalf who seemed to be the only serious challenger to James last season? Last week Heyneke Meyer moved him to the left wing. Under normal circumstances that would be the cue for another vain search for the Bulls’ coach’s lost marbles, but not this time.
This time those who came to bury Meyer stayed to praise him, for he replaced Van der Westhuyzen at flyhalf with Derick Hougaard. Just more than a year ago Hougaard was playing for SA Schools, having played Craven Week for Western Province. The Bulls scouts snapped him up on a two-year deal and he was a regular star for their Merit A side last year.
Against Free State Hougaard was given his first start and he was, quite clearly, playing under strict orders. His job was to kick. For position and goal. He did his job rather well. He is 19 years old.
Hougaard’s kicking earned the Bulls a bonus point, but what was perhaps more relevant to his future development was the fact that he got to watch the most beguiling flyhalf in the country at close quarters. And to prove that he is a quick learner, there were moments in the second half when he forgot his instructions and showed what those who have seen him at the lower level already knew; he can run and pass as well.
Pretorius, Russell, James, Van der Westhuyzen, Rossouw and Hougaard — what would Viljoen and his predecessor Nick Mallett not have given to have been able to choose his Test flyhalf from that list? The point being, of course, that while several of them may go on to become great Springboks, the best number 10 in the country is not available to Straeuli.
There are those who played with and against the late Richard Tsimba who aver to this day that he was a better rugby player than his little brother, Kennedy. In which case Richard must have been a hell of a player. It is, remarkably, just two years since Ken Tsimba moved to Bloemfontein. He made a huge impression in his first season, although the familiar conservatism that pervades the game in this country demanded that he was a flash Harry who would get killed if he played at a higher level.
Last season injury restricted his appearances to just 11 games for Free State and due to the fact that he is Zimbabwean he had to ply his trade in the Vodacom Cup earlier this year rather than the Super 12. Or at least that’s what most of us thought, until it was somewhat belatedly announced that dispensation had been given for Tsimba to play in this year’s Super 12, but nobody wanted him.
The Cats have an excuse; they had Pretorius. For the other three unions it is a laughable condemnation of petty provincialism that no one even approached Tsimba. It could be plain ignorance, of course, for the Bulls ignored Russell as well, but to even suggest, as some have, that winning games with a Zimbabwean flyhalf would not have advanced the cause of South African rugby is the worst kind of xenophobia.
Tsimba’s genius is an ornament to our game and there is more than a grain of truth in the suggestion that Russell and Pretorius play as they do because they have been able to watch the master. He is 28 now and in the prime of his career. As John Robbie once said of Jannie Breedt, he is the man of the match every time he plays.
The people who run our rugby should be getting things in place for Tsimba right now. Injury permitting, he must play in the Super 12 next year and should be pressed into service as a coach at all levels. And how might the International Rugby Board react to a request for naturalisation on the grounds that Zimbabwean rugby is dead?