In racing to 64 Test tries last night, Bryan Habana not only drew level with legendary David Campese, he edged closer to righting what is widely seen as a wrong in many rugby circles.

Habana and Campese are joint second on the all-time list behind little-known Daisuke Ohata of Japan. Chances are you wouldn’t recognise Ohata if he walked in the door, but officially he ranks as the most prolific finisher of all time.

Ohata played 58 times for his country, including two World Cups, but what’s lacking in his remarkable record of 69 Test tries is context. Only a quarter of his matches came against Tier One opposition with the bulk against the like of South Korea, Portugal, Hong Kong, Spain, Russia, the Arabian Gulf and Chinese Taipei. Even being generous, none of these could be termed rugby heavyweights.

Campese is said to have never heard of Ohata when the record was mentioned to him and it doubtless stuck in his craw that a man who played in the backwaters owned the record.

Campese, of course, earned the vast bulk of his 64 tries by playing against South Africa, New Zealand, the home unions and the Lions in a remarkable 101-Test career.

Habana is much the same, with 16 of his tries alone having come against Australia and New Zealand. Of the rest, only a handful (Uruguay, Namibia and the US) could be considered soft touches.

It’s perhaps a bit harsh to criticise Ohata – he did what he had to do – but there needs to be a weighting in such cases.

There’s a similar story for the most prolific try-scoring forward. You might guess Schalk Burger or Richie McCaw would be in the lead, but instead that honour goes to Diego Ormaechea of Uruguay.

The encouraging thing is that Habana is still 32 and enjoying an outstanding return to form after seemingly losing his way a few years ago. His appetite and instinct is still razor-sharp and he never needs to ask for directions to the tryline.

He has become one of the senior statesmen of the team, a position he clearly enjoys, as was evident when he congratulated Rudy Paige moments after he made his debut in London.

Another six before World Cup’s end may be reaching a little too far for Habana. But it will come, and when it does, a giant will sit atop the rugby pantheon.