Bryan Habana quick to send out Toulon’s statement of intent

As Munster watched Toulon beat Leinster the day after their rout of Toulouse, they may have thought the Heineken Cup couldn't have provided them with a more daunting challenge than a semi-final in the south of France against the reigning European champions. A week later it appeared to become tougher still, when Bryan Habana – at his best probably the best winger in the world – returned from a three-month lay-off to score his first try in only his fourth appearance for Toulon.

Often described in the past as the fastest player at the elite of world rugby – Carlin Isles of the United States would leave them all in his wake nowadays – the 30-year-old Habana has raced an AirbusA380 and a cheetah in his time. An extraordinary predator himself, amongst Habana's 53 tries in 95 tests he equalled the World Cup record of eight tries set by Jonah Lomu in 1999 when helping South Africa to win the 2007 World Cup in France.

'Injury break'
"This is the longest injury break I've had throughout my career," said Habana yesterday when reflecting on the thigh muscle injury he suffered against Exeter in December, his sense of debt after his big-money move to Toulon assuredly sharpening his appetite to start returning their investment on the seasonal run-in.

“Frustrating” is a word he uses repeatedly to describe his first season in France, which was also delayed by an injury after the Four Nations and interrupted by the November internationals, and he admitted: “Coming over here definitely has had a lot of extra pressure on my shoulders.”

A tad encouragingly for Munster perhaps, Habana also hinted at the possibility that, as with the quarter-final against Leinster when an unused replacement, he may be confined to a place on the bench after missing out on Saturday's 46-31 win over Perpignan in Barcelona with tendinitis.

'Moments to saviour'
"But in terms of my fitness, I'm feeling good and hopefully with medial help in Toulon this coming week that I'll be good to go for the weekend. Playing a part in a Heineken Cups semi-final would be pretty special, playing against a team that I have not played against before in my career, it would definitely rank up there in some of the moments I'm definitely going to savour when I look back on my career. Hopefully I can play a part and contribute in any way, be it starting or coming off the bench."

Habana has been "lucky" to have played in front of 48,000 crowds with the Stormers and Bulls, but admits the greater distances prohibit much in the way of away fans by comparison to the Top 14 and the Heineken Cup.

“It creates for a better atmosphere, for fans and players alike. Playing that last game at Mayol, walking through that tunnel of supporters, it’s something I’ve never experienced in my career and something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

Toulon having won seven of their last eight Top 14 games to lead the table as well as beating Leinster, and Habana hailed the work ethic of players such as Jonny Wilkinson, Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell.

"The team environment is pretty awesome. The language is rather tough and I'm still trying to get that sorted. It's a slow process. But being in the south of France I think the weather is a lot better than anywhere else in Europe. I definitely can't complain about that, and yeah I think the work ethic in the team environment is pretty special.

“People have been saying over the years that it’s a place where players just come to retire but the guys put in an unbelievable amount of work and are insanely professional which for me, still wanting to achieve things like maybe going to the World Cup, has played a pretty important role.

“And I think the competition for places over the last three or four months, after a pretty mediocre start to the season, and the guys wanting to perform has really pulled through and that’s made the level of play over the last couple of months really fantastic to watch. Guys have put their bodies on the line. The skills levels have been up there with some of the best I’ve been a part of.”

The uber ambitious French club came within a game of the double last season when losing to Castres in the final and as that was their second successive defeat in the final, it’s reckoned that a first Bouclier de Brennus since 1982 would be their priority.

"To be honest, there have been certain goals and objectives set and that's definitely to go all the way. As a professional rugby player and as part of a professional set-up we don't just want to target one.

'Tall ask'
"Toulon have got into the Top14 final twice in the last couple of years and lost both and as special as the Heineken Cup was last year it definitely is a tall ask of any player to go on and win two finals in consecutive weekends.

“But that’s the beauty of this game. If you want to be seen as the best in the world, if you want to be part of a club that can create history you’ve got to lay down everything on the line every weekend.

“So we’re definitely going to be going all out. At this level we’re lucky that we’ve got so many players to choose from and so many players playing fantastic rugby at the moment. I think we’re in a healthy spot but it’s Saturday to Saturday and hopefully over the next six weeks we’ll be able to analyse how well we’ve done in terms of any silverware being in the cupboard.”