Morne must build on Loftus showing
28 Aug 2010
GRANT BALL writes that Morne Steyn improved on previous outings but needs to produce similar performances on a regular basis.
Last week against the All Blacks Steyn delivered a perfect goal-kicking performance, but questions were raised regarding his general play after the Bok pack had laid a solid platform. Two kicks that didn’t go out at a vital time of the Test were also criticised by Peter de Villiers, and reportedly led to the senior players calling for Butch James to start as he takes the ball flatter and ask more questions of the opposition defence.
At Soccer City, Steyn was invariably too deep and the Boks looked like they had no plan on attack as Steyn shoveled ball on to players in worse positions outside him.
At Loftus, Steyn again kicked imperiously at goal, but his all-round performance was notably improved, although it must be taken in context as the Aussies at Loftus is a far cry from a World Cup knock-out match.
Steyn touched the ball for the first time after eight minutes with his side trailing 14-0, and taking the ball on the front foot he set up the first phase with Jean de Villiers crashing it up for Juan Smith’s try (Steyn also had a hand in Frans Steyn’s second half bonus point score).
The second time, Steyn got over the advantage line himself off quality lineout ball. Those two examples showed that Steyn’s taking the ball to the gain line off the set-pieces has improved, but off breakdowns he’s not as proficient. The Bok flyhalf constantly took the ball standing still in a deep position, killing the momentum gained by the pack.
Quade Cooper benefited from the speed of his side’s ruck ball, the majority of which was quick, but whenever it was slow, he still attacked the gain-line. Steyn must learn from Cooper’s example.
The game was extremely loose in the first half, which suited the Aussies, and composure was needed from Steyn, who was meant to be setting the tone and pace of the game without Fourie du Preez at scrumhalf. Francois Hougaard made most of the play-making and decision-making in just his second Test start, and one would have expected Steyn – a veteran compared to his Bulls team-mate – to have had more influence in that regard.
A quality kicking game is still important and on his home field, Steyn put in some decent bombs and tactical nudges, especially in the second stanza, although the Boks would have wanted to kick the ball out more to further test the teetering Australian lineout.
Steyn said the Boks would attack the Wallabies’ 10-12 channel, but the visitors did the same to the Boks. Steyn rarely knocked runners back, and his high tackle on James O’Connor handed the Aussies three points eight minutes into the second half.
Steyn was subbed with 16 minutes remaining with James providing a direct option, but he didn’t get many attacking chances as they were defending the lead. He did show his defensive value with some telling tackles in knocking runners back, something that Steyn can’t replicate.
Although Steyn delivered his best performance of the Tri-Nations, he must translate this showing to places like Dublin, Wellington, and Auckland, where he’s been exposed before.
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37 Comments
28 Aug 2010, 19:00 pm
Great game Morne, dragond
28 Aug 2010, 19:01 pm
Drop Habana
28 Aug 2010, 19:06 pm
Drop Habana very quickly
28 Aug 2010, 19:09 pm
Darren Scott agrees with the assessment about Bryan, since moving to Cape Town, his demise has been exponential
28 Aug 2010, 19:35 pm
Spies and F Steyn was not on par. Although they both scored, Spies is so poor defensively.
28 Aug 2010, 20:03 pm
butch a better option…..
28 Aug 2010, 21:00 pm
“and
reportedly led to the senior players calling
for Butch James to start as he takes the ball
flatter and ask more questions of the
opposition defence.”
so the senior players pick the team now?
28 Aug 2010, 21:59 pm
Team looked a lot better with Frans Steyn back, midfield was also much improved with JDV and JF back together, Boks did score some soft tries but so did the Aussies. Hopefully they can improve defensively and win big next time. Agree Habana and spies need to go. I would bench both of them till they got their fire back as both are in a comfort zone
28 Aug 2010, 22:43 pm
@dquinn25(dquinn25)-8:francois steyn was not better than aplon or kirchener, his line kicking was sh*t! He didn’t join the line on attack effectively – if he did. He has no pace to speak of. He visibly off the pace.
28 Aug 2010, 23:20 pm
im defnitly agreein wth trans… f steyn was horid! im nt sur wat game dquinn was watchn bt i rate steyn rite dwn ther wth habana nd smit. i hope 2 c aplon in the strtn 15 nxt week, b it in the 11 or 15 jersey, dsnt rly mata coz they both ar horibl. n gwiz! gt basson in the freakn team. 7 trys in 2 weeks agnst bulls nd sharks, habana could only dream of stats lyk tht. chilliboy was super! nd flippy aswel!
28 Aug 2010, 23:49 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-7: I’d take it with a pinch of salt, he didn’t start after all.
29 Aug 2010, 00:39 am
Frans Steyn will take a few games to find some form. Habana should go back to WP to learn to relax again at a lower level of the game. It’s all in his head, he is trying too hard. JS to call it a day now. Bismark is fit, so why not play the best no.2 in the country. Spies was **** again, but that seems to be an acceptable standard for the coach these days. We are truly lucky the Ozzie Hooker and Scrummie are so **** or we would have been commenting on a loss.
29 Aug 2010, 06:54 am
Has Morne Steyn ever shone when the Boks or Bulls weren’t dominating? NO. Totally overrated.
Yes he puts points on the board, but is he good for the Boks game – I don’t thinks so.
29 Aug 2010, 06:57 am
@daltjie(daltjie)-10: fark me dude … how are we supposed to take you serious when you write like a 12 year old wannabe gangster.
After i deciphered your gibberish … i must ask “why must Steyn always be perfect from the start?” The players you punt, have been NOTHING more than average for ages!
29 Aug 2010, 07:07 am
@kevin w(kevin w)-13:
Spot on Kevin
@kevin w(kevin w)-14:
lol
I got to his second word on his post and thought i was trying to decipher my kids text messages to me.
29 Aug 2010, 07:11 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-15: Morne Steyn is the new Braam van Straaten or Louis Koen. Points machines but not good for the SA game. Bring back Butch full time, or find a playmaker.
29 Aug 2010, 07:14 am
@kevin w(kevin w)-16:
For sure.
Morne is the king of penalties and conversions,he is honestly a freak. But in othe parts of his game he is very limited and its starting to show in the Internationals.
29 Aug 2010, 07:24 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-17: With Fourie Du Preez injured and no real fullback it would have perfect to have Ruan / Butch / and Frans Steyn … more than enough kickers, but better playmakers.
I’m out of the country – Ruan – may be injured but then you even have Kockott who is a better option than Januarie and Hougaard who despite everyone jumping up and down is just an experiment and not proven YET.
29 Aug 2010, 09:27 am
I can’t believe Divvie didn’t bring Kanko on for at least the last 15 minutes. Spies did absolutely nothing this game, besides for scoring a try that anyone would have scored.
Kanko would have been devaststing in a game like this.
Hougaard probably deserved his man of the match as his general play was pretty good, but why does he always take such a long time to clear the ball. His job is to get good quick ball to the backline, but each time he clears he takes forever, allowing the opposition to regroup and putting our backs under pressure.
Bryan Habana beware. There is a wing playing in Kimberley by the name of Bjorn Basson who has got his eye on your position.
29 Aug 2010, 09:35 am
DON’T BE FOOLED … by Peter Bills
South Africa and Australia came close to producing a new version of rugby this morning in Pretoria.
It was essentially rugby sevens played with 15 men a side – an interesting hybrid model which, alas, I don’t think has a future.
Neither, for that matter, does either of these teams if they continue to play the game in such a dumb fashion.
Yes, it was entertaining enough if you just want the vicarious pleasure of watching players dive over the whitewash. But for any serious observers of the game it was close to a joke at times. “Surreal” was how one leading world rugby official called it, and he was right on the money.
Not to put too fine a point on it, it was a kind of rugby diarrhoea.
Tries spewed out at regular intervals, with no-one on the field apparently able to control the flow.
There were nine tries scored and only some desperate, scrambling defence by both teams prevented that number being doubled.
Back in New Zealand, there must have been expressions of bemusement mixed with humour on the faces of the All Blacks players and coaches.
For this was a game that told us exactly why New Zealand are already home and hosed as 2010 Tri-Nations Champions, not to mention Bledisloe Cup holders yet again.
All the structure, authority and composure the All Blacks have brought to the international game this year, even while playing an open, attacking game, was missing in Pretoria. We had the farcical situation of Australia leading 14-0 after just four minutes, 21-7 after 11 minutes and then 28-17.
Yet all the while, Robbie Deans’ side never had control of the game. At times, it exactly mirrored Sevens – one side scored, the restart went to the opposition and they scored. Six tries were scored in the first half alone yet of that tally, four were down to gross defensive errors and a fifth came from a forward pass.
That summed up the game, really. Unforced errors lay all over the field, like corpses on the Somme. Technically, it was pretty lamentable and merely served to confirm New Zealand’s overwhelming technical superiority in their rugby this year.
South Africa won in the end chiefly because of their traditional line-out excellence at critical moments in the crucial final quarter.
Leading 34-31 with the game finely balanced, the Springboks seized two vital Wallaby line-out throws which stole away potentially vital attacking platforms deep in the Boks 22, from the attacking Australians. Victor Matfield, on his 100th Test cap appearance, reminded us of his timeless ability and those around him deserved
praise, too.
Even worse for Deans’ side, they then butchered two simple tries which were there for the taking had their players simply made the ball do the work by taking out opponents with passes. Instead, mindless shifting of the pill across field which allowed the defensive line to drift ruined at least two scores.
Another was saved when impressive half-back Francois Hougaard got across to smash Adam Ashley-Cooper in the tackle, forcing him to spill the ball rather than walk it in over the line.
Australia couldn’t come back after that glut of missed scoring opportunities. But their decision making was awry in the final quarter too, when they turned down kickable penalties for punts into the corner. Their faith in hooker Saia Faingaa’s line-out throws was misplaced.
There was none of the precision or clinical execution we had become accustomed to seeing from the All Blacks this season. Literally, they are in a class of their own on this evidence.
Bryan Habana dropped a simple re-start kick and then missed James O’Connor on the outside for one try; Kurtley Beale made the ‘Boks defensive line look about as mobile as the Maginot Line with a few sidesteps to open them up, leading to O’Connor’s first try and, at the other end, the defence parted like the Red Sea to allow the impressive Juan Smith to steam through an enormous hole to score for the Boks.
It was helter-skelter stuff, harum-scarum rugby with desperation written all over two ordinary teams. No-one ever really got a grip on the game with some proper structured rugby in the style of the New Zealanders.
So yes, for the uninitiated it was undoubtedly aesthetically pleasing and a real adrenalin thrill.
But don’t believe that all South Africans were fooled.
The vast swathes of empty seats in Pretoria, heartland of the South African game, told you plenty about what knowledgeable South Africans think of the present state of their side
29 Aug 2010, 09:38 am
@brains_trust(brains_trust)-20: this game was like an old spaghettie Western.Good fun but totally forgettable.
29 Aug 2010, 10:04 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-9: Frans Steyn on an off day is still a better option than anyone else in SA. Did you notice that the Aussies avoided kicking the ball to Frans Steyn like the plague?
29 Aug 2010, 10:09 am
the fact is, is that Morne is the best we have and is thrice the player James was at the same stage.
hougaard’s passing was vastly improved on the previous week, allowing the flyhalf to run on to it with confidence.
the same player that has no running game has had no problem unlocking defence’s in superrugby.
remember, Pienaar had the jersey…but he folded under pressure.
29 Aug 2010, 10:13 am
Frans Steyn is quite clearly out of shape….he is at least 3 or 4 weeks away from being match fit…..should not be playing for boks in this shape….
and i am the biggest f steyn fan on the planet.
29 Aug 2010, 10:46 am
@grant10(grant10)-24: But so is Habana and John Smit and Hamburger January – and these 3 have been in the match 22 for almost every game this year!
29 Aug 2010, 10:47 am
@Hier kom groot k..(Hier kom groot k..)-25: true….
Says a lot about the 3 stooges…
29 Aug 2010, 10:51 am
“Did you notice that the Aussies avoided kicking the ball to Frans Steyn like the plague?”
They avoided kicking the ball like a plague, each time they kicked it to Steyn he tried aimless midfield bombs that either went out on the full or straight to a player without pressure. He was appalling, unfit and without any attacking nous at all.
29 Aug 2010, 10:55 am
James, ffs that guy is so over the hill, shows how bad that game was yesterday that he looked good.
29 Aug 2010, 11:02 am
@Dex(Dex)-27: sadly you are 100% correct.
And this from the biggest F Steyn fan on the planet.
29 Aug 2010, 19:18 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-9:
I agree he was far from perfect and it will take a few games for him to get up to speed, but lets be honest i dont see Kirchner scoring a try and booting a massive penalty. Aplon should be in Habanas position
29 Aug 2010, 20:02 pm
Who else can we choose other than MS? When Butch played we had Percy as a reliable goalkicker. We do not have reliable goalkickers at fullback or elsewhere.
MS does his work well enough but is probably a little fatigued. He has been playing now for 2 seasons non stop. He should be rested for the EOYT.
I found his substitution perplexing but luckily F Steyn slotted the only penalty after that and Butch was solid.
P Divvy was right about Frans. He should not have buckled under the pressure to choose him. Habanna has become a serious liability. Even the Ausie commentators mentioned it on Boots & All.
29 Aug 2010, 20:13 pm
@Dex(Dex)-27: @grant10(grant10)-29: @diewareouboet(diewareouboet)-31: We have to remember Fransie has really had not much rugby game time under his belt. The last time he played before last Friday night before flying to SA was in the Wales test. That was almost 2 months back. Had PdV kept Frans on after the Wales test without a doubt he would have been up to speed. We all know how he can play, but any player will fall off the pace if they had not being playing for a month or two.
We can’t really judge him now.
Probably after dropping Steyn after the Wales game should now have stuck with Aplon and selected Frans for the eoyt. He would be far more ready then after a playing for his club for a few months.
Now we have selected him he must play again this week. No use bringing him here just to say “see I told you he was slow” nonsense that. Think he may have been set up for failure really playing him when so unfit and not game ready at all. Coach should have kept him on from that Wales game. I still believe he is our player for the wc at FB. If not him then the Cheetahs FB.
29 Aug 2010, 20:40 pm
@dquinn25(dquinn25)-30: give me a break, habana or pietersen could’ve scored that try, he just had to pick up the ball, nothing in it!…
29 Aug 2010, 21:35 pm
@Puma(Puma)-32: Very true, those that needed a brwak were played into the ground and those that needed game time were ignored
29 Aug 2010, 21:38 pm
@JL1(JL1)-34:brwak=break, bloody Ipad
29 Aug 2010, 22:09 pm
@Puma(Puma)-32: pdv has been spineless, he has been harassed by the ‘pro-steyn media’ to a point where he selected a player who his FRENCH coach said is not up to scratch!
When pdv in june said francois is not up to Test rugby level he was criticised/lambasted yet when the racing coach says it nobody even bloody flinches!
That’s just what is wrong with the whole Bok management.
30 Aug 2010, 15:59 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-36: You took the words right out of my mouth!
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