‘I’m still getting better!’: Bryan Habana picks up Welsh language where he left off after Lions series

Bryan Habana has picked up where he left off with the Welsh language after the summer’s Lions series, telling the S4C programme Jonathan that he was “still getting better”.

Presenter Jonathan Davies asked him if “he had recovered” after his five weeks working as a pundit with Sarra Elgan on S4C and Sky.

Bryan Habana responded with “dw i’n dal i wella, dw i’n dal i wella” – I’m still getting better.

Sarra Elgan then pointed to Jonathan Davies and said in Welsh: “Bryan Habana’s Welsh is probably better than yours!”

The show can be watched here.

Former South Africa wing Bryan Habana, who is considered one of the game’s greats, had delighted audiences on S4C over the summer by delivering verdicts on the tour’s matches in the Welsh language.

During his analysis of the Lions’ performances Bryan Habana had been commenting that it was a “noswaith dda” (good evening), “gêm gyffrous heno” (an exciting game tonight), “mae’n oer yn Ellis Park” (it’s cold in Ellis Park), and also responding to a questions in Welsh about how he is and what tea he liked.

During the second test which South Africa lost, he turned to the camera and said ‘Tro nesaf, tro ni’ – ‘Next time, it’ll be our turn’ after Lions fought back from a nine point deficit at half-time to win 22-17.

A surprised Sarra Elgan Easterby said ‘Wow, learn that yourself, did you?’ before adding in Welsh ‘I didn’t teach him that!’

Bryan Habana had earlier opened the segment by saying in Welsh that he was ‘Ddim yn dda’ – ‘Not good’ after the Springboks squandered their first-half lead.

During the first test he had praised his co-presenter Sarra Elgan Easterby for her teaching skills. His contributions have won praise on social media with Sarra Easterby herself taking to Twitter to praise him as a “linguist”.

Bryan Habana responded that “I must have a good teacher Sarra Elgan… mor dda (so good).”

Sarra Elgan also learnt some Afrikaans on the trip.

During an interview on Sky Sports before the third Lions test she asked the Springbok coach how he was feeling and told him the game is very exciting. Jacques Nienaber responded that her Afrikaans was “perfect”.