By Joël Pütz | Sports journalist
World champion in 2007 and former best player on the planet, Bryan Habana ended his career with Toulon. But the end of his adventure with the French club did not go as planned, as the South African legend told it.
If only by his extremely attractive salariesmuch more than those of the competition elsewhere, the Top 14 is a favored destination for the stars of the oval ball. France being a land of Rugby in its own right, some of the biggest names in the discipline have made a trip to France during their respective careers. Among the latter, we particularly find Bryan Habana.
Member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame, the South African is still considered one of the greatest wingers of all time. World champion in 2007 with his country, voted best player in the world the same year, he ended his career with RC Toulon for whom he played a total of 66 matches between 2013 and 2018.
The terrible end of Bryan Habana's career in Toulon
His adventure in France had started rather well with a championship title in 2014 and two European Cups… but the last months in the south of France turned into a nightmare for Habana, forced to spend time on the billiard table for knee surgery before being put in the closet during the months that followed. Asked by Olympic Midday in 2018, the superstar did not mince his words about this experience:
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Frankly, it was the most difficult period of my career (…) I had always been number 1 in the teams I had been with. From one day to the next, I was no longer a person and I didn't even know why.
And we couldn't count on Fabien Galthié, his coach at the time, to justify the situation:
He never explained anything to me about this, which is what I regret.
The only possible solution, which he logically rejected, was to play with the youth teams. Not glorious either for a profile as impressive as his… Result, a shaky end to the journey for the Springbok legend, he who saw himself retiring with one last success like some of his peers. However, water has flowed under the bridges since then and he is now more calm on the subject:
I couldn't see myself playing with the Espoirs. I have nothing against young people, but I didn't want to get hurt again in a stupid way. (…) What have I done? A failed last season, five months of useless training, zero matches. Well… There you go… It wasn't the ending I dreamed of, but I made peace with this sad time.
The end of Bryan Habana's career in Toulon clearly did not live up to his incredible career on the grass. Fortunately, the South African rugby legend no longer holds too much animosity towards the club from the south of France… because it was not a given.
