KEY POINTS:
He is of Spanish descent, was named after former England soccer captain Bryan Robson and once raced a cheetah - and only just lost.
Bryan Habana would have surprised no-one if he'd done the cheetah on a remote grass track somewhere in the North-Western province of South Africa. The race was staged by conservationists; a 100-metre dash with a difference. Habana, the Springbok wing, whose performances at test level since the autumn of 2004 have been little short of jaw-dropping, has not lost a foot race since.
Clipping along at virtually a try a game, he was held tryless against England yesterday but has still crossed the opposition line 26 times in 30 international matches - a strike rate of 86 per cent.
He will, with his next try, surpass Breyton Paulse's second place on the all-time Springbok try scoring record (Joost van der Westhuizen has 38) after his quartet of tries against Samoa at Parc des Princes.
Two of them were trademark efforts that left platoons of would-be tacklers wondering how and why.
Against England, it was his fellow winger JP Pietersen, with two, who got to the tryline and it was clear that England had focused on stopping him, even taking into account the pre-game words of Brian Ashton, the England coach. He said: "If we concentrate on one man, we'll be missing the point. For a start, the Springboks have one of the best scrum-halves in the world at their disposal in Fourie du Preez."
Prescient words. Du Preez it was who set up all South Africa's three tries and would have created a fourth had it not been for Jacques Fourie's slippery fingers.
Twelve years ago, when the World Cup was played in South Africa, people said the same kind of things about Jonah Lomu of New Zealand.
When push came to shove in the final, the Springboks themselves came up with a way of neutralising the threat. James Small and Japie Mulder, two of the most aggressive defensive players in the game, gang-tackled him to distraction.
Like Lomu, Habana runs in straight lines but has brought a new swerve and footwork to his blinding speed, not to mention improved upper body strength - he bench presses 160kg - and an impressive physique in that Superman-suit, form-hugging jersey he wears, complete with padding underneath. It was easier to lay hands on Lomu, although bringing him to earth was another issue altogether.
As Samoa found last weekend and England have found to their cost, Habana is rather more elusive.
He has become such a feature of this Springboks side, the rapier to the bludgeoners up-front, that you might imagine that Habana has been groomed for the role from an early age. Not so. The 24-year-old was born in Benoni, Gauteng, where he played most of his age-grade rugby as a scrum-half or centre.
It was his move from the Lions to the Bulls in 2005, where he came under the influence of coach Heyneke Meyer that catapulted him onto a different stage. Suddenly, he was the prime strike weapon.
Quickly he became the star, the must-have accessory. Habana, though, is a modest, charming man.
"I have been given a talent by the 'Man' above and it is my duty to make the best of it," Habana said.
"Heyneke [Meyer] and Jake [White] have helped me with my contact work and given me the confidence to go out and play. It was great to score four against Samoa but it's the team result that matters."
However, in talking to South Africa's Independent Online, Habana does make it clear that his contribution will have one particular impact - more displays like that will see more coloured or black players turn to rugby union from the favoured sport of football.
"A lot of coloured South African players are coming through. It's a work in progress. It's up to players like myself to go out on the field and show there is talent in South Africa," said Habana, whose great-great-great grandfather emigrated from Spain in 1871. The wing, who originally wanted to be a halfback, said that, to him, the whole issue of colour and quotas for coloured players in the Springboks was not for the players or management to deal with - something which coach Jake White has battled with since he took over in 2004.
"I've never seen colour as an issue, whether you're white, pink, black or blue it doesn't matter," he said.
Habana, who has consistently run 11s for the 100m in the past, said that for him he wasn't a player to go into hiding when the heat was on.
"I like pressure to be put on me. If I make a contribution to what is a great team effort then I'm happy."
The one caveat about Habana has come from fiery former Springbok winger Small as he told SA Rugby magazine earlier this year.
"He's got weaknesses," said Small. "He's got to curb his temper. Look at his dangerous tackle on Percy Montgomery in the Super 14 final. He struts and thinks he can get away with that - them refs [World Cup referees] will be watching him."
Habana was typically down to earth about the possibility of breaking Paulse's record - and then van der Westhuizen's.
"Records are there to be broken."
