Steyn states his case
16 Sep 2011
Morne Steyn has moved to dismiss criticism of his defence and says his drive to become an international flyhalf caused his running game to regress.
Steyn has been heavily criticised for his perceived limitations with ball in hand. Though an expert tactical kicker on form, Steyn has failed to exhibit any discernible attacking threat beyond the base expectation of a Test flyhalf.
Against Wales in Wellington on Sunday he clearly attempted to vary his game, standing flat to the line more often than he has in recent seasons. His cause was undoubtedly undermined by the Springboks’ inability to retain possession through multiple phases, but Steyn acknowledges that it is an area of his game that demands attention.
‘I can improve a lot as an attacking flyhalf,’ Steyn told keo.co.za, before theorising about the root of his struggles. ‘When I arrived at the Bulls in 2003 I was more of an attacking flyhalf, but coach Heyneke Meyer explained to me that if I wanted to take the step up I needed to improve my tactical kicking game.
‘It’s the kicking that’s doing the job at the moment. The Bulls and Boks play more of a kicking than running game, so it required me to adjust accordingly. But having said that, my running game has suffered as a result. I know I have to grow that area of my game.’
Steyn was confident that he, and by extension the collective, would become more potent as their synergy and cohesion improved. He agreed that the World Cup success of 2007 featured panache as much as it did pragmatism in an attacking sense, but stressed that it has become a significantly more difficult to score tries this time around.
‘You have to consider that every team in the tournament has improved defensively, particularly in their gainline contest. That demands that teams have a good kicking strategy. That’s not to say there mustn’t be variation,’ he said.
Steyn’s defence also came into sharp focus following the narrow victory over the Dragons. Midfieder Jamie Roberts clearly targeted his channel and made ground on almost every occasion he did so. Steyn said this had not fractured his confidence.
‘It is their game plan [Roberts attacking that channel]. It wasn’t tailored specifically for us. They often send that big tank down the 10-12 channel and he often gets them momentum there. It didn’t dent my confidence [to struggle defensively against him].’
Fiji would have noted Wales’ tactic and are likely to try to replicate it, sending their key strike runners down Steyn’s lane. Coach Peter de Villiers was open about the fact that Frans Steyn’s selection at inside centre was designed to shore up that area of their defensive line, but the Bulls man is still acutely aware of the test lying ahead.
‘From their locks to their wings, they’re big boys. We’ll have to put our shoulders down and tackle, as simple as that,’ he said. ‘I think the biggest lesson the guys learnt in 2007 was to take nobody lightly [Fiji were close to upsetting the Springboks in the quarter-final]. ‘That said, it is still the Springboks against Fiji. We cannot allow them to stand in our way.’
By Ryan Vrede, in Wellington
Follow Ryan’s World Cup coverage on Twitter
177 Comments
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16 Sep 2011, 10:55 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-149:
you’re right… sadly for him…
16 Sep 2011, 10:56 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-148: Tinus Linee… Now that was a hard mutha. Strange for a WePee poofta
16 Sep 2011, 10:57 am
jissus you make one joke about brok and suddenly the knives are out for spies.
wtf?
16 Sep 2011, 11:00 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-152: There’ve been a few over the years….
16 Sep 2011, 11:00 am
@Gunther(gunther)-153: The knives have been out since Sunday really…..
16 Sep 2011, 11:04 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-154: Hard as Deon Fourie – “The 2nd best hooker in SA”….?
16 Sep 2011, 11:05 am
@Gunther(gunther)-153:
lol…
spies could take a few cues from brok…
seriously… spies should go back to playing wing… he’d be a great success there…
16 Sep 2011, 11:06 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-156: Well I’ll give Deon his due, he punches above his weight too!
Not quite no 2 though. Maybe no 6 or 7….
16 Sep 2011, 11:07 am
@ufo(ufo)-157:
Spies should be the Bok team’s personal trainer and never again set foot on the rugby field.
The Boks are playing with 13 players at the moment.
16 Sep 2011, 11:08 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-155:
oh ok.
I watched and digested the game in a keoless environment.
I didn’t realise until that our performance was all his fault
16 Sep 2011, 11:08 am
Sunny Bill walks in… Japan are now embarrassing!
16 Sep 2011, 11:09 am
Btw, when is Chiliboy (who has vastly improved and was playing better than du Plessis at the end of the s15 season) going to get a turn let alone Bismarck? John Smit is losing more and more respect every second.
16 Sep 2011, 11:11 am
@Gunther(gunther)-160: Him, the Butcher, Morne, FDP, it’s been an equal opportunity maul fest in here this week.
16 Sep 2011, 11:16 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-159:
ow….!!
the guy’s an athlete… like his dad… he should play wing like his dad…
spies in space on the wing would take a helluva lot of stopping… and his defence would improve with (mostly) back liners to tackle…
16 Sep 2011, 11:17 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-163:
the butcher is no centre that’s for sure.
fdp needs gametime and I’m not sure there is enough of that left before the crunch games.
I thought they all looked pretty lethargic myself.
and nervous.
16 Sep 2011, 11:19 am
Japan will never score a try vs the boks …lol
16 Sep 2011, 11:19 am
@ufo(ufo)-164:
Defending in the backline, especially set piece based, is a lot harder than defending by the rucks.
Spies should go the way of Kankowski. Next year the answer is 8. Burger 7. Smith 6 Brussow – Alberts bench.
16 Sep 2011, 11:20 am
Shame man..
Are the **** being turned into sashimi…?
16 Sep 2011, 11:22 am
@ufo(ufo)-168:
WTF?
**** = J.A.P.S. (no offence intended… why the hell can’t we say that… but can say Poms etc…?)
16 Sep 2011, 11:23 am
@Gunther(gunther)-165: Yes. Very slow. Wasn;t a good performance at all, particularly after it started so well.
16 Sep 2011, 11:28 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-167:
true… but not having to deal with the big guys every time will make him braver… and he has the speed to run down most wings… and will get around most wings with a moerse hand-off…
i like your looses… though have posted many times i’d have juan at number 8 and schalk at 7… as juan has played more senior rugby there than schalk… juan played at 8 a lot in his early days at freestate… and even played a world cup game or two there
16 Sep 2011, 16:38 pm
@Transformation. For what it is worth your opinion of the game is mostly fair and reasonable so why bring race into a good post (26)?
Enjoy the Bok/Fiji game tomorrow!
16 Sep 2011, 17:51 pm
Too much Morne bashing on here. If you were a coach would you really pick a 10 based on his defence? If so you should go and watch American football with the rest of those obese meatheads in Yanksville. There is so much more to the position, some of which Morne does very well and some which he does efficiently enough in my opinion. As mentioned correctly by another poster, Cooper isn’t the best tackler but he is accommodated due to his play-making ability – surely the same can be done for Mornes kicking(he is a better tackler than Cooper anyway). Also, he is kicking a lot out of hand because he is instructed to, not because he can’t pass as some people on here are saying. He’s a good distributor and the pass for F Steyn’s try last weekend was an example. We don’t have the players to play to a plan that requires a 10 who challenges the gainline (old forwards and backs who don’t pass) so it’s best to stick to a solid distributor like Morne with a good kicking game and excellent goal kicking. Note that I am a Stormers fan so I’m not doing the Maak die Bulle almal Bokke routine.
As for this weekend. The coaches will(hopefully) have reviewed the tapes and put a plan in place to make sure that Morne won’t/can’t be targeted like that again. Defence will be also no problem with F Steyn at 12. From what I’ve seen, he defends well there for Racing so will be fine – and don’t tell me that Basteraud, Jauzion, Traille and the French-based Pacific Islanders he comes up against week in week out aren’t physical…
16 Sep 2011, 18:06 pm
@ufo(ufo)-169: exacatly,they’re all b*stardards.
16 Sep 2011, 20:05 pm
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-167: You want to leave a battering ram on the bench? Good god man what are you smoking.
16 Sep 2011, 20:06 pm
@The_Don(The_Don)-173: Are you Morne Steyn? His defence sucks. Part of his role as 10 and a rugby player is to be good at defence. Carter does not have so many problems. Steyn is hondkak plain and simples.
17 Sep 2011, 04:31 am
@Samba Bok(JayDaFiveOh)-175:
Alberts is good but isn’t near the class of Burger, Juan and Brussow. He is the same age as Burger.
@Samba Bok(JayDaFiveOh)-176:
The best goal kicker of all time will always start.
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