Boks must back Butch
23 Aug 2010
RYAN VREDE argues that Butch James must start at flyhalf at Loftus.
In announcing his squad for the Tri-Nations, Springboks coach Peter de Villiers told the media that the World Cup winning flyhalf had had limited opportunities in the incoming tour Tests, and because of this he deserved an opportunity to prove he still had the aptitude for Test rugby.
That opportunity has amounted to 39 minutes out of a possible 320. This while Morne Steyn struggles to replicate the form that saw him monopolise the shirt in 2009. James’s time is now.
Steyn is an excellent goal kicker and is suited to the kick-chase approach that the Springboks employ as a primary means of attack. However, he has failed to consistently display the variation that is a feature of his play with the Bulls and was evident with the Springboks in 2009.
Against the All Blacks in Auckland Steyn took the ball to the advantage line just thrice in 33 handles, with a solitary linebreak. A week later in Wellington Steyn attacked the gain line four times with zero success in 35 handles, while against Australia in Brisbane he breached the defence once in 19 handles. While typically accurate in his goal-kicking (sinking six from six) Steyn’s struggles with ball in hand continued at Soccer City.
Tellingly, just once in the aforementioned matches has he offloaded in contact – a marked feature of the Blacks’ Dan Carter and Wallabies’ Quade Cooper’s play. Carter had made nine play-maker offloads in four matches prior to Saturday’s Test in Soweto, while Cooper made four in the one match he played prior to his suspension. One doesn’t need to elaborate on the value of a flyhalf who creates attacking opportunities in this way.
There are mitigating factors, the most notable being the Springboks coaches’ unrelenting fascination with a flawed, pragmatic game plan. Their impotency at the tackle point on attack and consistent inability to deplete the opposition’s defence through multiple phases is another. And there can be no doubt that his potency is diminished in the absence of Fourie du Preez, who takes immense pressure off his flyhalf through his all-round excellence.
With nothing to gain from the remaining Tests, there can be no justifiable reason to omit James from the run-on side. Steyn’s selection will amount to nothing more than a conservative move from a desperate coach.
James, who impressed with Bath in 2009 before an injury sidelined him, watched the entire match in Soweto from the wood. De Villiers argued that the result could have rested on a 50m penalty and that in that situation Steyn was his go-to man. That rationale is understandable given that Steyn is a superior goal-kicker with experience in sinking pressure kicks.
But the next two Tests must be used to measure James in order to accurately establish the depth at pivot. The stocks were trimmed with Ruan Pienaar’s departure for Ulster, and outside of Peter Grant and more recently 19-year-old Pat Lambie, none at franchise level have impressed.
James physicality in defence will be a boon against the hot-stepping Cooper, while his directness in attack – something De Villiers says was lacking in the second half in Soweto – will add a dimension to the Springboks’ play which has been sorely lacking.
There is no risk in the selection. James is an experienced player, versed in the ethos and playing philosophy and whose combination with inside centre Jean de Villiers is well established. He is also a competent goal-kicker (there will be an insurance policy in Frans Steyn should Butch’s kicking boots still be in Bath) and has the skill to adapt to various styles of play.
James is a must for Loftus.
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267 Comments
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23 Aug 2010, 09:40 am
@gunther(gunther)-149: there we go again Mr Average…..hiding behind the sarcastic humour.
I have my own opinions….would love to see where i changed opinions…..care to enlighten me?
Ag…dont bother G….this is childish and i have work to do.
Enjoy your day.
outta here
23 Aug 2010, 09:41 am
Come now rules..
Either you are one dimensional or you aren’t..
Surely?
Personally I would give some younger players a go… Give the older ones some time for rest and conditioning.
Let’s find out who the alternatives are and see what sort of depth we have…
23 Aug 2010, 09:41 am
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-105: quite right, the all blacks kicked & chipped over the rush defence, the difference with what they were doing and morne’s aimless kicking is that they could see the defence ‘rushing’ and only then decided to chip! The ball never gets to carter and he just blindly moers it forward without having looked at other options like taking a gap, cut-out pass etc..
That’s the difference Rulz!.
23 Aug 2010, 09:42 am
@grant10(grant10)-150: It could also result in a tragedy with the whole Matfield clan in tears.
23 Aug 2010, 09:42 am
In their 14 match winning streak, the Blacks have beaten
1. Australia 4 times
2. South Africa 3 times
3. Wales 3 times
4. Ireland, France, England & Italy once
Also, in these 14 games they have only conceded THIRTEEN tries! While scoring 49 themselves.
In the same time period,the Boks have played 11 games and they’ve lost to:
1. NZ 3 times
2. France, Ireland and Australia once
In other words, in the same time that NZ stacked up a 14 game winning streak, wining 9 out those games against the top 5 teams (SA, Aus, Frc & Ire) in the world, SA has won ONLY 5 out of 11 games. But, even WORSE, THREE of those victories were against ITALY!
To put it another way: In our last 11 games we have conceded 22 tries and have scored ONLY 29 tries (14 of those 29 tries were against Italy).
Wake-up SARU! We’re in serious trouble!
23 Aug 2010, 09:43 am
@RugbyStudent(RugbyStudent)-147: Spot on wrt tactics, but I’d only rest the guys after the 3N, we need to win these 2 games.
@grant10(grant10)-150: O so when you said the following, you were just ranting, you didn’t even believe the idiocy that was running over the keyboard?:
“I do feel Matfield can come back strong…..of all the players he is the most overplayed…..but yes….currently he is poor….and it will be the sentimentality that keeps him there this week…..s sad SA affliction.”
Notice the this week statement.
23 Aug 2010, 09:43 am
@capebull(capebull)-121: Um no actually Habana’s forever bloody coming off his line and not trusting his teammates and exposing great big farking holes caused the try..i wish they’d coach that sh*t out of him, he keeps doing it game after game!
23 Aug 2010, 09:46 am
I think the coaching staff is to blame for this one “A” for a way.I thought with the replacement of Hougaard on scrumy the boks backline would be on fire, and once again kicking by the scrumy was at the order of the day….game plan once again?..and the commitment of one(1) bok player agains 4-5 AB’S at the breakdown?..what about BH,yes poor Brian Habana always goes for the i.n.t.e.r.c.e.p.t.i.o.n leaving the boks at the back vulnerable!…and finally why are the bok coaching staff always making replacements when it’s not necessary?
23 Aug 2010, 09:47 am
@RugbyStudent(RugbyStudent)-147: We all agree on the principal, but why play Butch at all ? Rather blood another potential no10 …
Our d*ick heads of coaching will do nothing, why ?? Because they have no idea about inovation and frankly if the senior players are running the show self preservation will keep the gang together.
23 Aug 2010, 09:56 am
Habana is too slow for an international wing. Simple as that.
I almost hope we lose to Aus (twice), else PDV and his idiot crew will stay on.
23 Aug 2010, 09:57 am
Our tactics for this game were good and is the right way for the RWC next year. Our problem was the poor tactical substitutions and the fact that we are floating quotas:
Spies
Chilliboy
Januarie
Are all being accommodated. Chilli and Ricky aren’t even 2nd choice at their provinces.
23 Aug 2010, 10:00 am
I think Aussies will catch a klap. The All Blacks are a great side currently and they are enjoying the rub of the green as well as favourable reffing. We also handed them this game to them on a platter, it was ours to lose. Poor subs, poor bench.
23 Aug 2010, 10:01 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-109: Its not only revised rules, and why would Wayne helpfully tell us the diff ABs over last year ??
I have posted several times that you can see the conditioning is not there for Boks.Why is that?
The Bulls won S14 with the same players minus FdP who we ALL know runs the team so ok its a big problem, what does PdV do ? Select a fat, non-kicking 9 who cant even get into S14 squad.
In addition Brussow the find of 09 is injured, so what does PdV do ? select another 7…
So all that is ok with you ?
The reason the boks performed so badly imo EOYT 09 was poor selections coupled with non-rotation after a very heavy and successful year.
It adds up to a weak and incompetant Coach either way you dice it. So he has a brain storm some years ago to run the ball, we all know this was D*cks idea and it failed the games we tried it. Why ? not because of the tactic being wrong but because it has to be part of a bigger picture. And this is our problem, PdV seems to lurch from one bad idea to another with NO PLAN ..with NO REPURCUSSIONS …. Geddit ??
23 Aug 2010, 10:02 am
Atriedes
and how many times is Habana in front of the kicker ? In fact, how many times are any of the Boks behind the kicker ?! This has been the same for years now.
As you say, “once is a mistake but the same mistake made again and again is……”
now what is the word Sth Africans use in this situation ?
23 Aug 2010, 10:04 am
call to drop steyn only warranted as he’s been over played and has lost form. he is no attacking genius, but he is the best option at 10 that the boks currently have. sad but true.
smit and victor also badly in need of rest. although in bismarck we have a better option at 2 and smit should be kept with the squad as a leader and a versatile bench option at best. Victor is pure class and willmake an impact next year if correctly managed.
Brussouw’s return will make a massive difference to the balance of the loose trio and no one can deny Burger and Smith are still classy players without peer in SA. Spies would be lucky to keep a spot on the bench.
as for the backs we lack a decent winger at the moment, but Aplon is the new Paulse and Steyn must be accomodated at 15.
As far as the game plan is concerned it does not matter how you play the game if you have players that fall off tackles and cant last 80 mins.
23 Aug 2010, 10:05 am
Ryan, you’re asking the coaching staff to make this no-brainer decision when they make the most ridiculous substitutions in every match. They do not have the ability to read the match and to make the right changes. Hougaard and Smith were taken off while they were the best players on the field Saturday. Hougaard disrupted Carter’s play several times while Smith added much needed grunt at ruck time. We were turned over more in the last 10 minutes than during the whole match.
I have no faith in the current Bok management and there’s no way we’ll win the WC with them in charge. They’re out of their depth. Note this is not a dig at Div alone. Muir was the reason we ran everything from our deadball line in 2008. We saw how the Lions faired this year in the Super 14. Gold is our defensive coach and we’ve let in 14 tries in the last 4 matches. Cheryl Calder is not with the backroom staff anymore. Do we even have a conditioning coach. Our fitness is terrible and the highveld is our stronghold….until Saturday.
Two people can take over and make quick changes with great results. Heyneke or Jake. There is still time.
23 Aug 2010, 10:05 am
This is the best time for out coach to give some of the youngsters and fresh legs game time. Let the guys have a break that been playing nonstop from the beginning of the year. Sure he can put a team together that can beat the Aussies.
15. Steyn
14. Gio
13. De Jong
12. De Villiers
11. JP
10. Butch
9 . hougaartd
8 . Louw
7 . Smith
6 . Burger
5 . ? because matfield is tired
4 . Flip , not bad on Saturday , need more game time
3 . Jannie
2 . Chiliboy Ralepelle
1 . Beast , steenkamp on the bench
23 Aug 2010, 10:06 am
Having thought long and hard about why SA has failed to produce a world class fly half for many years now , if you look at the primary boxes that need to be ticked for a fh, namely:
- Ability to kick out of hand and to posts
- ability to distribute well
- abilty to defend
- ability to carry ball up
- ability to make decisions under pressure
- the absolute desire to want to play the posistion
- abilty to instll a “fear” factor in the opposistion
None of the incumbents in the last few years have been able to tick all the boxes.
So the next question is who has the potential to be able to tick all or most of the boxes.
I have thought about all the candidates including Lambie amd elton Jantjies and Peter Grant and have come to the conclusion that the best youngster in fact for the job is Francois Steyn.
Yes, yes I know a lot of you are going to be saying he was tried and failed etc etc !!!
The lad at 23 is now more experienced ,has matured a bit more and right now could be a masterstoke to try him at FH again.
He certainly ticks most of the boxes, more so than the others………..I reckon the time for Francois Steyn to be tried as a FH is now !!
We know that in his heart this is where he wants to play !!!!
23 Aug 2010, 10:10 am
I wonder how the ABs would go if Mccaw was unavailable? He’s been easily their best player this year.
We all saw what happened when Carter got injured in 2007, and how poorly the Blacks did with Mccaw and Carter recovering from injuries and not playing at their best last year.
What plans does Henry have to manage these players in the buildup to next year? Is there any greater risk to the ABs winning (on home soil again) than the fitness of Mccaw and Carter?
23 Aug 2010, 10:11 am
justrugby – THe Boks could have easily won on Sat if PDV put Morne Steyn to 15 and brought Butch on at 10. Gio played his heart out and put in some big tackles however the Boks need more from a player at test level. He is not a scratch on Paulse was(similar small player), as Gio’s kicking was very poor, Paulse had a mean left boot and was able to create!!
Also i thought Hougaard played very well but his kicking was poor.
This wa a game the Boks threw away more than the ABs won. Also the ABs are playing great rugby, they are spoiling alot at the breakdown and getting away with players lieing all over the rucks. But the ABs are invincible, if Du Preez , Steyn was playing the Boks would been able to pin the ABs back at the end and hold for the win.
23 Aug 2010, 10:12 am
As far as conditioning goes, if we continue to play the kick and chase game, where the new interpretations favour the side with ball going into the tackle, then we’re always going to be found out in the latter part of the game. Being constantly required to put in tackle after tackle is going to physically and mentally exhaust any player. Sure, our gameplan, if that’s what it was, looked to have succeeded for the majority of the game, but we paid the price for it towards the end.
23 Aug 2010, 10:12 am
JUSTRUGBY – Where is he playing at Racing Metro?
23 Aug 2010, 10:17 am
grant10 – All PDV had to do for the last 10/15 was minutes was move Morne Steyn to 15 and bring on Butch at 10. Morne Steyn has played 15 before and did ok. Gio was ok but not brilliant at 15, his kicking was very very poor. So was Hougaards kicking, Hougaards ashould have ran the ball more, he was good with ball in hand.
But the Boks improved and they need to continue this momentum.
23 Aug 2010, 10:17 am
@race of tan(race of tan)-172:
We all know he is playing FB or centre…….so what, Larkham started at scrum half and centre and eventually moved into the FH posistion because he had the SKILLS……not sure I understand your point
We can try and do somethhing innovative or can stay with the tried and failed !!
23 Aug 2010, 10:19 am
@justrugby(justrugby)-168: very interesting post my man…..very interesting indeed.
23 Aug 2010, 10:21 am
@race of tan(race of tan)-173: Hougaards kicking poor? What game did you watch? Steyn at 15? I dont know why I’m replying to this rubbish!
23 Aug 2010, 10:21 am
@grant10(grant10)-175:
Just feel he is the one player that can give us a variety of options from FH !!!
23 Aug 2010, 10:23 am
@justrugby(justrugby)-168:
I’d wondered the same thing funnily enough.
any knowledge on whether his club in france has played him there much? he went over because they dangled the 10 carrot in front of him, but last i heard they were playing him at 12 and 15.
23 Aug 2010, 10:25 am
@munkiboi(munkiboi)-178:
Yip Munkiboy he’s been playing at 12 and 15, but still worth the gamble !
23 Aug 2010, 10:26 am
@justrugby(justrugby)-177: FB is his likely position. Frans does everything in slo-mo so 15 would grant him all the time in the world.
I honestly cannot see FDP up-skilling Frans for the 10 jersey. Not even FDP could make him look good.
23 Aug 2010, 10:26 am
@bananas(bananas)-163: here’s the team that played against ireland last year..point out the flawed selections that were the achilles to the boks beating ireland…
Springboks – 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP
Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand
Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9
Fourie du Preez, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Schalk
Burger, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Victor
Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John
Smit (c), 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 CJ van der
Linde, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Jean Deysel, 20
Dewald Potgieter, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Jean
de Villiers.
By Jon Cardinelli, in Dublin
23 Aug 2010, 10:27 am
@munkiboi(munkiboi)-169: That is what the EOY tour needs to sort out. They have a few guys blooded from the last couple of years in both positions, but no one guy stands out. I am picking/hoping Braid to go on EOY tour to become McCaws deputy. He was one of the form fetchers from the S14 and will hold his own with most others. There isn’t a Richie2 in NZ just now, but Braid is a very good and experienced player.
For Carters replacement they are banking on either getting Cruden up to speed over the next half dozen games as a very exciting new prospect to become DC2, or he will fail and they are back to some ok, but not game breaking choices. I still wonder whether they have Luke M in the back of their minds, but he has been a centre for so long now that it seems a stretch. Certainly has the talent though and may well be in the 2011 mix if he stays injury free and his form keeps improving.
23 Aug 2010, 10:29 am
“RYAN VREDE argues that Butch James must start at flyhalf at Loftus.” Is this guy for real?
“James is a must for Loftus.” Uhm yes sure he is a must for Loftus, for the bench that is.
I can agree Butch James was a good player about 10 years ago but surely he has had his time. Morne Steyn is our best flyhalf at the moment. What you people dont see is that while the world cup in new zealand it will be rainy and wet and James wont do, i would rather then choose Naas Botha. This is where Steyn will be a value to us. 2009 was his year and I dont know if James had a year or even a week. and now that he has every week a differnt no. 9 and 12 makes life a little harder for him.
Steyn needs a man like Olivier at his side. They are not for fun 3 time super 14 winners. Olivier is the best man for no. 12. He has shown this year and last year that he is the top form center. Nonu self said that Olivier is the hardest player he has faced. We need to have a Olivier in our team to cause problems in midfield by crash ball. The weekend de villiers tried a 1 crash ball against Nonu and i thought he was dead, and that led to the winning try by Dagg. Go have a look.
23 Aug 2010, 10:31 am
@justrugby(justrugby)-179:
I’d prefer to see how he goes at 15 first, before trying him at 10. Before he left, his distribution and game reading skills weren’t that great, even at 15, so let’s see what he’s learnt in France.
BTW, Goal kicking is a nice to have in a 10, but Frans wasn’t the most consistent and Larkham was never asked to. Unfortunately we don’t currently have a Mortlock or Giteau to fall back on if our 10 fails to put them over.
23 Aug 2010, 10:37 am
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-180:
Cool boet !!
Imho he certainly will be an improvement to anything we have now, will definetely provide more options, as 23 year old more experienced and mature vs the 19 year old that was tried, I think we will see a different approach by Francois to the 10 position, if he ever gets the chance !!
23 Aug 2010, 10:41 am
@bananas(bananas)-163: what you are not getting is that the all blacks have NOT changed their game plan, only their EXECUTION of last year’s game plan has improved which is the very opposite of what has happened to the Springboks!
Any type of game plan requires fit and top conditioned players to apply sustained pressure on the opposition. There’s no game plan to suit a hooker who is 20kgs overweight or a dik scrumhalf!
I have been saying all along that pdv is to blame for playing UNFIT players. Players need to be fit to retain the ball & punch holes in the opposition defence!
23 Aug 2010, 10:41 am
@justrugby(justrugby)-168:
I’m not convinced.
“We know that in his heart this is where he wants to play !!!!”
out of those you mentioned I like the two youngsters, Lambie & Jantjies, they may be a little too young to take to NZ but both can be accommodated in the greater squad even if they don’t get game time. In 2015 they will be ready.
They are both young and a little bit small physically but there is nothing small about their rugby instict.
Lambie reminds me of a young Frans Steyn when he burst into the scene and the only difference IMO is that Lambie is a team player. He has allround skills, distributes and can straighten the line when he sees a gap opening. If there is anything to criticise him with is that his kicking for poles is currently below par.
Elton is quickly growing into a good FH with allround skills, he reminds of Earl Rose without the brain explosions. He is also a good distributor and also not afraid to go for the gap. And one last point, in the two games I’ve watched him he has achieved a 100% kicking record and some of those were the most difficult kicks. If there is anything to criticise him with is that I have not seen him against the big teams playing a tight game under pressure.
Both are not shy in defence even though they sometimes come 2nd best due to size but a few sessions with Aplon & De Jongh can sort our their technique in this discipline..
23 Aug 2010, 10:42 am
@justrugby(justrugby)-185: I am glad Frans is South African. I know no Australian coach would play him at 10… he is too slow, both mentally and physically.
It is not about age, you cant coach smarts. You have it or you dont.
Frans in an Aussie line-up could possibly be considered at 15 or 13. Defensively he would be fine in either position and offensively he could be considered a crash ball runner. A little like old Mortlock. To be fair though, Morty as a 20 year old had a hell of a lot more pace.
23 Aug 2010, 10:42 am
@David(David)-184:
From a goal kicking perspective a guy that can bomb 65 meter penalties with a bit of practice should be able to nail the shorter ones ??
He needs to be given an extended run to find his feet at FH, perhaps the eoyt would be a good time to experiment !!
23 Aug 2010, 10:48 am
I wonder if he has Larkhams problem. Bernie was as blind as a bat, Lazer surgery improved his vision.
Bernie was a flyhalf that could do everything but kick goals. We always have more than one kicker, so goal kicking is not a pre-requisite for an Aussie 10.
23 Aug 2010, 10:49 am
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-188:
Don’t agree with him being to slow from an IQ or physical perspective, I think he is no slower than Morne and has the ability to be a rugby genius.
In this country we don’t seem to allow the flair players a fair chance to show their genius, one or two bad games and the heads called for !!
A Carlos spencer, Larkham or even Quade Cooper would never be tolerated in this country !! A shame really.
23 Aug 2010, 10:50 am
Transformation – That was a strong team we had that got lost to the Irish. Maybe it is a case that Boks need a bit of direction. PDV is not supplying/giving any to the players, and Bok metality needs strong leadership.
23 Aug 2010, 10:51 am
@Spieeeees(Spieeeees)-183:
“We need to have a Olivier in our team to cause problems in midfield by crash ball.”
yeah as much problems as he caused in his last 3 games… 
23 Aug 2010, 11:03 am
@justrugby(justrugby)-191:
- ability to distribute well
- ability to make decisions under pressure
A big cross next to these 2.
I mean really. Morne Steyn is the man for RW 2011. Lets back him and rest him for the EOYT, because without him, I can tell you our RWC defence is toast.
23 Aug 2010, 11:05 am
@justrugby(justrugby)-191: Yes I see where you’re coming from >>> behind the 8 ball. Having too much flair (ala Carlos) can be a killer too. We play with structure with a dash of flair. Hoping our boy Cooper grows into the roll, to date the lad is maturing nicely.
23 Aug 2010, 11:07 am
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-195: In the RWC I’d rather have a Steyn than a Spencer. The fact is Carter is awesome, but just because someone is not DC, doesn’t make them bad international flyhalves.
23 Aug 2010, 11:08 am
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-194: Yep, with Frans the ball dies in the ruck and pressure he does not do well. In time maturity could solve both ills. But at 10? Nah no chance, he doesnt have the footspeed for starters, at least Morne has a half-ar$ed step.
23 Aug 2010, 11:10 am
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-196: If I had the choice of Frans or Carlos, as a 10 for the Wallabies… damn I’d go with Carlos.
We prefer our 10′s to spark something, run at the line, drift/ghost, chip, grubber.
Carlos even at his age NOW could do all these… Frans?
23 Aug 2010, 11:21 am
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-198: I’m talking about Morne. And I’m talking RWC.
23 Aug 2010, 11:27 am
div
smit
muir
and gold
to retire
immediately
butch
to take out
citizenship
in japan
victor
to take over
captaincy
after some
rest
morne steyn
to win
the boks
the rwc
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