When less than 1% of your public has met you, but everyone has an opinion about you, it might be said that you have made it. That Tobey Maguire? Prickly, bit too much in love with himself, bit of acting ability, but really famous because he looks good in a Spider-Man outfit. Wayne Rooney? Lots of talent, attitude problem and needs to learn to keep his dick in his pocket.
So much for the international superstars. Here in South Africa we know better. That Schalk Burger? Long hair, good attitude, gives away too many penalties, Jake White likes him. Luke Watson? Short hair, good attitude, gives away too many penalties, Jake White doesn’t like him. That’s them sorted, then.
Ever since Watson and Burger emerged as prodigious talents at age group level, they have apparently been on a collision course. Born in the same town — Port Elizabeth — some six months apart, each has a famous father.
Watson’s pa, Cheeky, was the anti-establishment Eastern Province wing who chose to play his club rugby in the townships and was thus ostracised from the white rugby community. Burger’s old man is Schalk senior, a Springbok lock in the 1980s who moved to Cape Town when his eldest son was still in nappies.
Ironically, Watson was the one who did everything correctly. He was the outstanding player at the 2000 Craven Week and went on from playing for South African Schools to captain the South African under-19 side in 2002. In the same year, he played for the South African Sevens team that won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
By contrast, Burger didn’t even want to be a professional rugby player. As a left-handed bat and right-arm seamer, he played cricket for the Paarl Gym first team from the age of 14. Rugby was just something he did to keep busy during the off-season. He didn’t play Craven Week.
Instead, he leapfrogged various pecking orders and at the age of 19 represented South Africa at the 2002 Under-21 World Cup, where he came on as a replacement twice. But one of those occasions was the final against Australia at Ellis Park and he hadn’t been on the field five minutes before it became abundantly clear that a new star had arrived.
Burger’s elevation came at a price, however, for it meant that the coach of the under-21s, Jake White, could find no room for Watson. White’s first-choice fetcher was Roland Bernard; Burger was his exocet on the bench. It was inevitable that the politics of Watson’s father would be dragged into the debate, but it may simply be a matter of playing styles that has made White promote Burger over Watson every time.
Maybe in 2002 he believed that Watson could look after himself at senior level and didn’t need to bother himself with age-group rugby. Sceptics of that view might like to consider the fact that while Burger went on to captain last year’s South African under 21s, Watson was playing for the Sharks in the Super 12 and Currie Cup. Oh, and he had already played nine games for EP in 2002.
It was only very late in the 2003 season that Burger made his senior debut for Western Province and it should be remembered that it was Rudolf Straeuli, not White, who selected him for the World Cup.
This year Burger has been the outstanding Springbok player, after missing much of the Super 12 season with injury. Watson, who hardly ever seems to miss a game, was outstanding in the Super 12 and equally so in the Currie Cup, despite being asked to play at number eight.
Which brings us to the present. Given the way their careers have been entwined, it was perhaps inevitable that Watson’s decision to move from the Sharks to Western Province should be overshadowed by what’s going on in Burger’s life.
Burger started against the Lions on Saturday, got yellow carded twice in just over half a game and then received a public lambasting from WP president Koos Basson. Schalk senior happened to be in the audience and was not amused by Basson’s speech.
So on Monday, when the papers should have been filled with the story that Watson was leaving the Sharks and had been thrown out of their squad with immediate effect, there were as many column inches devoted to a poorly prepared speech at a cocktail party in Cape Town. It’s enough to make a boy paranoid.
Sharks CEO Brian van Zyl says that Watson is welcome to play the rest of the season for WP, but only if that union picks up his wage bill. But the solution is simple, really. Let Watson play for the union he chose above all others and be paid by them forthwith and let Burger turn out for a province whose president might think twice before humiliating his best player. The water’s warmer in Durban, Schalkie.