Cape Town – Bryan Habana says his French isn’t any good yet, but he will be asking an old mate for some help.
“Parlez vous Francais, monsieur! (Do you speak French, sir?) At this moment, it’s very basic. I can probably say hello and goodbye, and ‘Please give me two crepe Nutellas, if possible’! I will probably try and take some lessons from Bakkies (Botha) over there on Tuesday. He has been there for two years, so he will be able to show me the ropes,” Habana said on Thursday on the sidelines of a Mandela Day event at the Civic Centre.
Habana turned 30 in June, and the landmark birthday comes in a year when he is also making a landmark change in his career. The 86-Test Springbok sets sail for Toulon in France on Saturday after four seasons with the Stormers, where he scored 19 tries in 57 matches.
Now that the moment of departure is on Habana’s doorstep, he hasn’t even prepared to leave yet. “At the moment, it is all just bewildering. Myself and (wife) Janine haven’t even start packing! We’ve got three bags that we are allowed to take on the plane, and we are not even close to starting with the first one,” he said.
Habana has had a busy last week in Cape Town, mixing golf with Gio Aplon, Juan de Jongh and Dewaldt Duvenage with media appearances and sponsors’ events.
Coupled with the thrilling 30-13 win over the Bulls at Newlands, Habana feels that he has signed off in some style. He got the biggest cheer of all the Stormers players when arriving at the Civic Centre on Thursday to help his teammates pack food parcels for Mandela Day.
“It’s been a busy week, and the way we ended on Saturday was pretty satisfying. That said, it is really disappointing not being able to achieve what I really came down to Cape Town to do – that Super Rugby title. We’ve come close over the last four years,” he said.
“A fitting way to end. It’s been a great week – being able to really feel South African and what it is like to make this country a better place. We saw how the people of Cape Town got behind the team, and Mayor Patricia de Lille playing her part today with this Mandela Exhibition and everything going on.
“Hopefully the memories of this week will give me a renewed energy, as it’s been a long seven months, and I still have a full year of rugby to go!”