Monty to start his hundredth

[welshrugbyfan]

So he missed the Perth game and the Argentina game he still played a 100 tests for his country. When you sit back and your grandkids ask you what did you do when you were younger he can point to the countless jumpers he would have framed and say "at least I did something".

"See that number 15 jumper there, that was my 100th test match against the All Blacks that I played in front of my home crowd, it was a day I will never forget"

Anyone who has gone to war 100 times for their country deserves a little something special. You can't tell me Matfield wouldn't want his at Loftus.

Ease up Jono when you play your 100th test match I'll stick up for you too.

[lara93]

he has done and shown some great rugby over the years and it is a special time for him and the springboks

[jono]

i think its a discrace.
i dont think anybody in any sport should be able to dedicate when they play for their country. its the highest honour available to a sportsperson.

and i stand by what i said. and i dont think i was too hard on him at all

[jargan83]

"See that number 15 jumper there, that was my 100th test match against the All Blacks that I played in front of my home crowd, it was a day I will never forget"

at no stage have i said the fact that he has played 100 tests was a bad thing, in an earlier post I said good for him.

It's not the fact that its test 100 and he has sat out a few to do it HOME, the whole thing cheapens Test Rugby if players are going pick and choose when they play

[jono]

do you think its...fair...for him to be allowed to choose when he does and doesnt play?

oh, and cheers for the smote lara. ive not stooped to that level yet, but there is a first time for everything

[pieter blackie]

do you think its...fair...for him to be allowed to choose when he does and doesnt play? Yes I would have done the same

oh, and cheers for the smote lara. ive not stooped to that level yet, but there is a first time for everything You deserved the smote Jono

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[welshrugbyfan]

I'm sure there's more to it than him simply saying no I don't want to play this week. It could come down to injuries as well, sometimes in sport allowances are made for things like this. We don't know all the facts and I'm sure it won't be the first or last time it will happen.

It was a damn shame Latham couldn't play the last game in Qld due to his injury in what would have been his 100th Super Rugby appearance for the Reds.

[jono]

for having an opinion pieter?
i think that what he did is deplorable. and it does cheapen the bok jersey. that a player can drop it and pick it up when he wants to?
what message does that send to every single south african boy who wants to someday wear a bok jersey?
and it also should outrage every single other current and previous bok. as they had to work for every second of game time. yet percy can choose not to play?
how is that fair? or just? or even moral?

[Darren]

Percy quite likely played 99 games as requested of him. He quite likely did not play some games he wanted to from not being picked in the starting side (in the early days). Given a rugby union can pick and choose which players are in the starting 15/22, surely the player deserves a similar right - esp when it is such a milestone as knocking up a 100 caps.

Onya Percy - now go get a decent bloody haircut to celebrate

[jono]

i dont doubt that he probably didnt play games he wanted to play in. but thats part of playing in any professional team. you play when you are asked to play.
i dont think that a player should be allowed to elect not to play for his country at any stage because they want game further on down the line to be special. every game should be special.
if the boks didnt have a game at that ground this year, he would have been on 101 caps now.

[welshrugbyfan]

Can you imagine how hard wearing the bok jersey 100 times would be? Can you imagine how much competition there would be for that spot over the years? And he continually beat of all comers.

Percy has not only done what most kids only dream of but he's done it 100 times, not to mention his club rugby.

He is the most capped Springbok ever. The highest points scorer for the boks ever which is double to what the player in second spot has scored.

He made a huge boo boo in Wales in 2003 when he pushed over the touch judge and was banned for two years which meant he missed the 2003 world cup.

He was the leading points scorer in the 2007 world cup and when the boks won the prize I was stoked for Percy who had come back from a very low point in his playing life which he put behind him.

Good on you Percy.

[robyn <3]

hmm... i think i agree with you jono. thats great for percy to get 100, well done to him, but i think he should have played when the team needed him. who knows? maybe he was the missing ingredient in perth. maybe the boks could be winning the tri-nations if he was there? he should be putting his country and their rugby needs before himself and his wants, and thats what playing for your nation means to me...

[JediKnight]

Big congratulations to the pretty boy on achieving a momentous milestone.

[force addict]

well done to Percy, although it's an honour for him to get to play 100 tests at home, he should be thankful to play 100 tests at all and play it wherever he has to, not his choice.

[jono]

if he hadnt asked to have his 100th this weekend, do you think he would have been picked for the previous 2 matches?

i have to say yes. but the fact that he elected not to play just slaps his team mates in the face. rugby is a team sport. its not singles tennis, or pool or anything like that. you are there for your team whenever. he wasnt.
how can that be good for fostering positive team morale and relationships.
the boks needed him and he wasnt there because he wanted to have an extra special 100th game.
every time you play for your countries international team it should be special. there should be a feeling of "wow, i am at the highest level of my sport"
and choosing when you want to have that feeling goes against everything i have ever thought about the concept of teamwork.