Bryan Habana: Springboks great says he would have taken the knee as a player if he had the opportunity
While South Africa's rugby team has decided not to take a knee before games, former Springbok Bryan Habana says he would have done so if he had the opportunity during his playing days.
Male and female rugby players at club and international level chose to take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement over the past 18 months, but the gesture has not been adopted unanimously by teams and players across the sport.
The Springboks -- world champions in 1995, 2007 and 2019 -- are one such example.
Earlier this year, head coach Rassie Erasmus said his side was focused on supporting South Africa Rugby's own anti-racism and anti-discrimination program, RADAR, rather than taking a knee before games.
"I just don't think it's a directive at the moment," Habana, who made 124 appearances for the Springboks and scored 67 tries, told CNN Sport of the decision not to take a knee.
He added: "All players in that squad have had various statements throughout the course of the last year and a half, and in so doing, hopefully show that rugby is definitely against racism."
Asked if he would have taken the knee as a player, Habana said: "I think I would, if we were asked to do it or if there was an opportunity to do it.
"We saw with the Autumn Nations Cup last year held in the UK that there was a number of players that would do it, and I would have most certainly done if given the opportunity."
The act of taking a knee, which was popularized by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016 as a protest against racial injustice and police brutality, has proved a divisive subject when it comes to sport in South Africa.
Last year, South African players for English Premiership side Sale Sharks were the attention of public scrutiny for not taking the knee; like their teammates, they wore T-shirts with the words "Rugby Against Racism" ahead of games.
Then last month, South African cricketer Quinton de Kock apologized for refusing to take the knee at the T20 Cricket World Cup and insisted he is "not a racist."
Cricket South Africa had previously ordered all players to take a knee before game at the tournament, but wicketkeeper de Kock made the "personal decision" not to.
'Rugby as a true dream'
The Springboks' Rugby World Cup triumph two years ago signaled a landmark moment in South Africa's sporting and social history with Siya Kolisi, the team's first Black captain, lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy.
It came 24 years after Francois Pienaar had accepted the trophy from Nelson Mandela a year after the end of apartheid -- an iconic moment in rugby history.
Habana, who scored a joint-record 15 World Cup tries during his career, has lauded today's Springboks side as being "truly representative" of South Africa.
"Having our captain [Siya Kolisi] being the first Black African to not only captain and then win a World Cup, to have the likes of [wingers] Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe become the first players to score a try in a Rugby World Cup final for South Africa and really have tangible stories that relate to 60-odd percent of our population that can actually now see rugby as a true dream I think is extremely special," he said.
Since the World Cup, the Springboks have continued to play with power and precision under Erasmus' guidance and recently returned to the top of World Rugby's rankings ahead of New Zealand following victories against Scotland and Wales.
Their style has received some criticism -- notably for its emphasis on forward play and set-piece dominance -- but the side has demonstrated that it can play attractive rugby, too, most recently as Mapimpi scored two tries by exploiting the wide channels against Scotland on Saturday.
Habana, who retired from rugby in 2018, has no qualms about the way the current South African side plays.
"As a previous player and someone that knows that winning can make or break your career, I think when you play towards your strengths, when you play towards things that make you better and make you win, it's really important to understand potentially where the criticism comes from," said Habana, speaking as a Land Rover ambassador during the release of the nominations for the World Rugby awards.
He added: "What we have seen over the course of the last few years, it is extremely effective and successful. I know that the boys will be more concerned about winning than potentially about the style of play. The longer they win for, I think the more enjoyable they will be post the game."
'Mouthwatering' World Cup final repeat
The Springboks' next game is against England at Twickenham on Saturday -- a repeat of the 2019 World Cup final.
And for added intrigue, Erasmus was banned from rugby for two months this week after being found guilty of threatening match officials during this year's British and Irish Lions tour.
He has also been banned from all match-day activities until September next year and warned about his future conduct. South Africa Rugby has been fined $27,000 (￡20,000) over the incident, which saw Erasmus release an hour-long video criticizing the performance of match official Nic Berry.
Heading into Saturday's game, England is undefeated since March and recorded its eighth consecutive victory against Australia last week, while South Africa is looking to complete a clean sweep in this month's Autumn Internationals.
"I think, in this England side, they are brimming with confidence," said Habana.
"If one looks at what happened last weekend against Australia, South Africa will have to be extremely wary in all facets of play if they want to try to replicate what happened in 2019.
"It's going to make for an absolutely mouthwatering clash ... I know many are touting this as the potential final of the Autumn International Series; hopefully, it lives up that tag."
Bryan Habana：跳羚队大佬说如果有机会，他会以球员的身份屈膝
虽然南非橄榄球队决定在比赛前不下跪，但前跳羚布莱恩哈巴纳表示，如果他在比赛期间有机会，他会这样做。
在过去的 18 个月里，俱乐部和国际级别的男女橄榄球运动员都选择屈膝支持黑人的命也是命运动，但这一姿态并未得到整个运动的球队和球员的一致采用。
跳羚队——1995 年、2007 年和 2019 年的世界冠军——就是这样的一个例子。
今年早些时候，主教练拉西·伊拉斯谟表示，他的球队专注于支持南非橄榄球队自己的反种族主义和反歧视计划 RADAR，而不是在比赛前下跪。
“我只是认为目前这不是一个指令，”为跳羚队出场 124 次并获得 67 次尝试的哈巴纳告诉 CNN Sport 决定不膝盖。
他补充说：“在过去一年半的时间里，该队的所有球员都发表了各种声明，希望借此表明橄榄球绝对反对种族主义。”
当被问及作为球员他是否会膝盖受伤时，哈巴纳说：“我想我会的，如果我们被要求这样做或者有机会这样做。
“我们看到去年在英国举行的秋季国家杯有很多球员愿意这样做，如果有机会，我肯定会这样做。”
前 NFL 四分卫科林·卡佩尼克 (Colin Kaepernick) 于 2016 年推广的膝盖行为是为了抗议种族不公正和警察的暴行，在南非的体育运动中，这种行为已被证明是一个分裂的话题。
去年，英格兰超级联赛球队Sale Sharks的南非球员因为没有下跪而受到公众关注；和他们的队友一样，他们在比赛前穿着印有“反种族主义橄榄球”字样的 T 恤。
然后上个月，南非板球运动员昆顿·德科克（Quinton de Kock）为拒绝在 T20 板球世界杯上屈膝而道歉，并坚称他“不是种族主义者”。
南非板球此前曾要求所有球员在比赛前跪下，但门将德科克做出了“个人决定”不这样做。
'橄榄球是一个真正的梦想'
两年前，跳羚队在橄榄球世界杯上的胜利标志着南非体育和社会历史上具有里程碑意义的时刻，球队首位黑人队长西娅·科利西 (Siya Kolisi) 举起了韦伯·埃利斯奖杯。
种族隔离结束一年后，弗朗索瓦·皮纳尔 (Francois Pienaar) 从纳尔逊·曼德拉 (Nelson Mandela) 手中接过奖杯 24 年后，这是橄榄球历史上的标志性时刻。
Habana 在他的职业生涯中创造了 15 次世界杯尝试的联合纪录，他称赞今天的跳羚队是南非的“真正代表”。
“让我们的队长 [Siya Kolisi] 成为第一个不仅成为队长并赢得世界杯的非洲黑人，让 [边锋] Makazole Mapimpi 和 Cheslin Kolbe 成为第一个在橄榄球世界杯上得分的球员南非的决赛，并且确实有与我们 60% 以上的人口相关的切实故事，他们现在实际上可以将橄榄球视为真正的梦想，我认为这非常特别，”他说。
自世界杯以来，跳羚队在伊拉斯谟的指导下继续以力量和精确的方式比赛，最近在战胜苏格兰和威尔士后，回到新西兰之前的世界橄榄球排名榜首。
他们的风格受到了一些批评——特别是因为它强调前场比赛和定位球优势——但球队已经证明它也可以打出有吸引力的橄榄球，最近一次是因为马皮皮利用广泛的渠道对苏格兰进行了两次尝试周六。
哈瓦纳于 2018 年从橄榄球队退役，对目前南非球队的比赛方式没有任何疑虑。
“作为一名前球员并且知道胜利可以成就或破坏你的职业生涯，我认为当你发挥自己的优势时，当你朝着让你更好并让你获胜的事情上比赛时，了解批评的潜在可能是非常重要的来自，”哈巴纳在世界橄榄球奖提名公布期间以路虎大使的身份说。
他补充说：“在过去几年中我们所看到的，它非常有效和成功。我知道男孩们会更关心胜利而不是潜在的比赛风格。他们获胜的时间越长，我认为他们在比赛后会越享受。”
“令人垂涎”的世界杯决赛重演
跳羚队的下一场比赛是周六在特威克纳姆对阵英格兰队——这是 2019 年世界杯决赛的重演。
为了增加阴谋，伊拉斯谟在今年的英国和爱尔兰狮子队巡回赛中因威胁比赛官员被判有罪后，本周被禁止参加橄榄球比赛两个月。
他还被禁止参加所有比赛日活动，直到明年 9 月，并警告他未来的行为。南非橄榄球队因这一事件被罚款 27,000 美元（20,000 英镑），伊拉斯谟发布了一段长达一小时的视频，批评比赛官员 Nic Berry 的表现。
进入周六的比赛，英格兰自 3 月以来保持不败，上周连续第八次战胜澳大利亚，而南非则希望在本月的秋季国际赛中完胜。
“我认为，在这支英格兰球队，他们充满信心，”哈瓦纳说。
“如果看看上周末对澳大利亚的比赛，如果南非想复制 2019 年发生的事情，他们就必须在比赛的各个方面都非常谨慎。
“这将是一场绝对令人垂涎的冲突......我知道很多人都在吹捧这是秋季国际系列赛的潜在决赛；希望它能够实现这一目标。”
