McKenzie hopes game 100 distracts Habana

Springboks star Bryan Habana is set to play his 100th Test when he lines up against Australia on Saturday, and the news couldn’t make Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie any happier.

“That’s good. I like it when there’s milestones because people get distracted,” McKenzie said ahead of the Patersons Stadium clash in Perth.

“Hopefully they get all hyped on that and we just run on there and do our business.

“He’s had a stellar career; a terrific person and a great contributor.

“But hopefully they spend a lot of time celebrating and not worrying about tactics against us too much.”

Habana has had a career full of Test and Super Rugby highlights.

The reel includes scoring a try from his first touch in his Test debut at Twickenham back in 2004, lifting the World Cup in 2007 with the most tournament tries to his name, and scoring the title winning Super Rugby try after the siren for the Bulls in 2007.

However the 31-year-old winger admitted that 2010 and 2011 had been the toughest seasons of his career.

The Wallabies played a big part in that, knocking South Africa out of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in the quarter-final.

It’s a subject that still stings most South Africans, with referee Bryce Lawrence becoming public enemy No.1 after the match.

“That quarter-final was an interesting talking point when we got back to South Africa,” Habana said.

“The Wallabies probably weren’t the better team on the day, but yet they won. But in professional sport you’re going to have a loser and have a winner.

“I don’t think there’s any resentment to what happened. If anything, it probably made us as players a little bit stronger.

“We gave full credit to the Wallabies for having their backs against the wall and pulling through.

“We took it on the chin and held our heads up high going back to South Africa.”

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