For Andre Pretorius, inclusion in Jake White's 30-man squad became a personal tale of tears to triumph yesterday, four years after the ace flyhalf had lost out at the eleventh hour in heartbreaking circumstances when rookie Derick Hougaard made the cut ahead of the Lions pivot.
Pretorius, returning from injury to the Springbok squad this year, has already shown White his match-winning abilities on not one, but two occasions last year. The first was when he kicked a tricky last-minute penalty to give the Springboks a 21-10 victory over the All Blacks in the final act of their Tri-Nations match at Rustenburg.
Continues Below ↓
The second was on the end of year tour to England, when four Pretorius drop-goals, two penalties and a conversion, tallying up to 20 points, played a major role in South Africa winning 25-14 at Twickenham for the first time since 1997.
White clearly hasn't forgotten Pretorius' match-winning capabilities. In both instances last year, Pretorius' boot played a key role in easing pressure on the Bok coach at a time when the knives were out and many of his enemies in South African rugby were lobbying to have him fired.
Nevertheless, four years ago Pretorius' World Cup dream was crushed when then coach Rudolf Straeuli opted for Louis Koen and Hougaard as his flyhalves for the showpiece in Australia.
The selections backfired, notably in South Africa's crunch pool game against England when Koen had a crucial kick charged down which resulted in England centre Will Greenwood flying in for a try.
England then took control of the game and ultimately ace marksman Jonny Wilkinson outclassed and out-kicked Koen - a conversion, two drop goals and a penalty putting the boot into South Africa's World Cup prospects as they went on to lose to New Zealand in the quarter-finals.
Pretorius' inclusion in the squad this time around, with Hougaard not getting the selector's vote, not only gives the 28-year-old Lions stalwart his first opportunity of playing in the World Cup, it also gives him the mouth-watering opportunity of going head to head against Wilkinson in SA's Pool A game against England at the Stade de France in Paris on September 14.
This game will determine whether South Africa take the high road, or the low one, into the knock-out phase and avoid meeting New Zealand in the semi-finals.
Nevertheless, at the World Cup, White is still going to find it tough choosing between Butch James and Pretorius in the No 10 jersey.
There is no doubt that James' physical presence in the pivot channel rattles New Zealand's backs, particularly star flyhalf Dan Carter. Yet Pretorius was at flyhalf in a halfback pairing with Ricky Januarie when Carter played his worst Test against South Africa at Newlands in 2005. On that occasion Pretorius kicked four penalties and a drop goal and SA won 22-16.
Among South African flyhalves, Pretorius is one of the few match-winners who can kick drop-goals and towering punts or Garry Owens with either foot. Since making his debut against Wales in 2002, he has kicked eight drop-goals in 24 Tests for South Africa, 25 penalties, 27 conversions and scored two tries.
James, by contrast, has kicked no drop-goals in his 18 Tests, but has booted 12 penalties, three conversions and also scored two tries.
- This article was originally published on page 34 of Cape Argus on July 22, 2007
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
