Sadie wants to be centre of attention
SPRINGBOKS | Cheetahs star knocking on the door for green and gold shirt
CHEETAHS’ centre Johann Sadie is unlikely to be an automatic choice in anyone’s fantasy Springbok team, but he is closer to the national set-up than some might imagine.
Like his gifted Cheetahs teammate Willie le Roux, Sadie brings a range of skills to the game that South African players generally lack — the ability to cut the line consistently and to put teammates into space.
A year ago Le Roux said he didn’t expect to be selected for
Last week he assisted in three of his team’s four tries
the Springboks because his skill-set wasn’t what the test team were looking for at that time.
Twelve months on and Le Roux is an integral part of the Bok squad, having played all of their 12 tests last season. Sadie could follow the same trajectory, although his path to the Springbok team is littered with sizable obstacles.
Firstly, the Cheetahs are struggling this season, unlike 2013 when they made the playoffs for the first time, which assisted Le Roux’s cause. The Cheetahs’ indifferent results have undermined Sadie’s test ambitions.
Secondly, Sadie plays in a position where quality players such as Juan de Jongh, JJ Engelbrecht and Bok skipper Jean de Villiers are ahead of him in the international pecking order. And the decorated Japan-based Jaque Fourie is also in the mix.
But Sadie’s numbers make for impressive reading. He’s made six clean line breaks this season, run for 318m, third best of all centres in the competition, and last week against the Crusaders he assisted in three of his team’s four tries. He is well ahead of other South African centres in those key areas with a similar amount of game time.
Defensively, Sadie has been solid too, missing only eight tackles in eight games while making 46. By way of comparison, Frans Steyn has missed 12 (made 53), Jean de Villiers six (made 31) and JJ Engelbrecht three (made 66). And none of their attacking stats come close to Sadie’s.
That’s partly to do with the Cheetahs’ attacking style of play, but Sadie has to take some credit for his personal success.
It’s been a roundabout route for the 25-year-old Sadie to finally start earning the recognition he deserves, which took him from Newlands to an unhappy stint with the Bulls at Loftus before moving to Bloemfontein and the Cheetahs.
“Johann has a combination of good skills. His biggest asset is the ability to run great lines and move off a line after the ball has been passed to him,” Cheetahs backline and attack coach Hawies Fourie said.
“He can change his angle while the ball is in mid-air and that requires good skills, feet and vision. That’s the way he creates a lot of line breaks because he runs at space and at defenders’ arms instead of their bodies. He is also not scared to try things and take on defenders.
“Johann also has excellent hands and the ability to get really good passes away under pressure, and a lot of those are scoring passes.”
Fourie admits the Cheetahs poor season is undermining Sadie’s test chances, but taken in isolation Sadie has done all he can with his performances.
“If the Boks select a bigger training group of 40-45 players I expect Johann would be in that,” Fourie said.
“But (Bok coach) Heyneke Meyer knows exactly who he wants to play at 13 for the Boks and I don’t think Sadie is in his immediate plans.
“But if he keeps playing well and knocking at the door, like Willie le Roux, he could sud-
25-year-old centre has five seasons of Super Rugby experience
denly come into the mix.”
Clouding Sadie’s path to test rugby is the emergence of new midfield talent, especially Sharks centre Sibusiso Sithole, who has delivered some eyecatching performances.
Sadie, though, has five seasons of Super Rugby experience and at 25 he is entering the prime of his career — possibly in time to make a dash for the Springbok squad in time for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.