Bryan Habana is the winger for the South African national rugby team. In the current standings, after one game, he’s the top try scorer in the rugby world cup with four tries.
So just how fast can this guy run? I’ve been digging around for some official figures but can’t find any. There’s reports that Habana has run 10.4-s for the 100-m and others that say just under 11-s. I also found an article that said he can run 40-m in 4.63-s.
But it doesn’t matter what he can run on the track. It’s completely different running on a grass pitch, in boots, with pads and kit and against an opposition who want to smash you into next week.
Habana earns his money on the rugby pitch and as long as he’s tearing up defences, scoring tries and entertaining us – does it matter what the official figures are? Probably not.
On another note, I’ve heard that Habana can bench press 160 kg, which for a winger is seriously strong. If his lower body strength is just as good then there’s a good chance we can say that his speed comes from a great ability to apply a lot of force to the ground in a short space of time.
Finally, forget a 40-m, 60-m, 100-m or 200-m race to judge how fast your athletes are get them to do this instead!
This is Bryan Habana racing a cheetah!
Alan Ruddock CSCS, YCS
you gotta be kidding me i dont know if the name Rupeni Caucau rings a bell but you ask any rugby die hard fan they will say that Habana is no match. Rups is twice as fast as Habana I have seen him in action and this man has speed to burn.Kaiviti power (Fijian power)
Don’t believe the hype. Apparently ITV in the UK reported he hit 26.9mph over a 1m period in one of his tries. So Habana apparently is as fast as Ben Johnson at his peak! As we know it is nonsense but that’s how the stories start.
Habana is not close to being the fastest rugby player either. The USA Eagles winger Takudzwa Ngwenya flew past Habana to score a fantastic try against the Springboks. Ngwenya had a best of 10.5 for the 100m in the past so one could imagine he could do about 10.8 at best now.
The public have trouble understanding how fast 11sec actually is for 100m. Also turnover is equated as speed in most peoples minds hence the Habana Myth.