Boks will miss ‘The Mule’
1 Oct 2011
JON CARDINELLI writes that Frans Steyn’s tournament-ending injury will impact on the Springboks’ game plan as well as the composition of the match 22.
The Boks were expected to win Pool D, but there were always going to be casualties. Several players hobbled off injured during the course of a Friday’s brutal pool finale, and it was later revealed that Steyn, a player who finished the match, would play no further part in the tournament.
The blow couldn’t have come at a worse time for both player and country. While the Boks squandered a series of attacking opportunities at North Harbour Stadium, they showed signs of the structure and application that won them the World Cup in 2007, as well as a British & Irish Lions series and Tri-Nations in 2009.
Over the course of the pool stage, Steyn has shown himself to be a key ingredient to the winning formula, and on Friday he again contributed two outrageous penalties from inside his own half.
Bok assistant coach Dick Muir said in the build up that Steyn had the X factor. Muir explained his statement by referring to Steyn’s prodigious kicking game. Be it in the tactical- or goal-kicking department, Steyn can swing a game.
His ability to strike the ball further than any one else can be the difference in a tight finish. He weighed in with some booming tactical punts in the first pool match against Wales, and has over the course of four matches kicked some monster penalties from as far as 60m out.
Which other international player, or indeed which other rugby nation, can boast such a weapon in their arsenal?
Sadly, Steyn’s World Cup is over. The Boks will no longer have that cannon of a boot at their disposal, or that versatile player who can excel in several different positions.
Injuries to Jean de Villiers and Butch James forced the selectors to move Steyn to inside centre for the matches against Fiji and Namibia. Steyn impressed as a ball carrier and defender, and managed to make the No 12 jersey his own as the play-offs drew nearer.
His versatility meant that Peter de Villiers could pick five forwards on the bench. Francois Hougaard and Jean de Villiers were the only backline reserves for the Samoa game, because the coaches knew that Steyn could cover flyhalf and fullback in the event of an injury.
Now that he’s out of the picture, they have no such luxury, unless of course they reconsider bringing the underplayed Ruan Pienaar in from the cold.
Regardless of where he played in the quarter-final, Steyn would have, as Muir suggested, offered the Boks that precious little bit extra. The Boks’ game plan is all about playing in the opposition’s half, and they rely heavily on the boots of Fourie du Preez, Morne Steyn and Frans Steyn to win the territorial battle.
The latter player is especially influential when he lines up at 15 and produces those ground-gaining punts. It could be viewed as conceding possession, but it allows the Boks ample opportunity to chase and apply defensive pressure, or contest the opposition lineout if the ball drifts into touch.
If all the players were fit, I would still bank on De Villiers at inside centre and Steyn at fullback. Pat Lambie is the future of Springbok rugby and should be seen as the answer at flyhalf after this World Cup, but at present he lacks the experience to be a success within the Boks’ current World Cup game plan.
As it stands, Lambie will continue at 15 for the remainder of the tournament, while De Villiers will resume his role at 12. The Bok brains trust will need to revise their bench dynamic, and adjust their game plan for the upcoming clash.
While Lambie is a talented kicker, he’s not yet in the class of Frans Steyn. The Boks will miss Steyn’s momentum-shifting qualities, from his ability to nail long-range penalty and drop goals to his raking tactical probes, when they come up against a Wallabies side stacked with players that are as gifted with the boot as they are with ball in hand.
126 Comments
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1 Oct 2011, 15:55 pm
@TheAgent(TheAgent)-98:
not for me, we can overpower them upfront. They are still suspect as far as I’m concerned. Our 3 extra frontrowers from the bench are a real weapon for us we need to keep utilizinf it. Aplon and Hougaard add enough by themselves.
Only real risk is if Bakkies is good to go or not. Being able to move Danie to the bench would also really be good along with alberts.
1 Oct 2011, 15:58 pm
@TheAgent(TheAgent)-97:
Ja. Like I said before. Let us hope that a tsunami does not wipe them off the face of the earth. They are SUCH lovely people who take defeat in such a humble manner.
@chch(chch)-99:
Shut up.
——-
That’s how Kobus gets the job done.
1 Oct 2011, 15:59 pm
If JdV is not 100% fit then JdJ must start at 12… On Defence he is at least as good as JdV, if not better. His distribution is no worse than De Villiers either. Just not sure how Morne Steyn will play with him… Frans Steyn definitely helped Morne’s game – Morne plays better with Frans Steyn than without him.
1 Oct 2011, 15:59 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-100:
yes,actually, Pienaar is probably a better bet than aplon. Lambie is pretty versatile, just inexperienced at this level he could also slot in at 12 with pienaar moving to 15. There’s obviously risk involved now as Frans ticked so many boxes on his own but I would still stick as far as possible to the “plan”
1 Oct 2011, 16:01 pm
select DeJong and we are fcked.
1 Oct 2011, 16:04 pm
We must get rid of vag-man Spies and Titties Smit to have a completely dominant forward pack – now that we effectively have no backline. JdV is past his best and now is a simple basher. He does not have the ability to pass and is a one trick pony compared to Steyn.
1 Oct 2011, 16:05 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-104: A big risk. If it had to be a backline player, who do you reckon? It better not be Jacobs or Olivier.
1 Oct 2011, 16:15 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-101: The only difference between a 5/2 and a 4/3 split against Aus would be CJ. Jannie can play for 80, but then we’ll have Butch there too. The backs will have to put in a lot of tackles, and Butch will help in that regard if needed.
Against Aus I’ll go (if all fit):
Lambie
JP
Fourie
de Villiers
Habana
Steyn
du Preez
Spies
Burger
Brussouw
Bakkies
Matfield
Jannie
Smit
Beast
Bismark
Guthro
Rossouw
Alberts
Hougaard
James
Aplon
1 Oct 2011, 16:20 pm
@TheAgent(TheAgent)-108: But then again, if Jannie has to come off, we’re stuffed. So maybe 5/2 will be better. Tough call.
1 Oct 2011, 16:20 pm
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-106:
in the past few games spies has performed well, don’t let perception cloud judgement. Alberts has been below par as a sub in the past 2 games if we are honest about it.
1 Oct 2011, 17:05 pm
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-102:
get forked
1 Oct 2011, 17:27 pm
Steyn’s boot is not the most important of his game. He brings balance to our backline, doing everything that is so far and away beyond Jean. We finally saw slick distribution, interplay, offloads and powerful carries well over the advantage line. Now we have Jean back, like a deadly disease that refuses to give in. Back to a painfully bland and disfunctional backlplay. He can’t even defend anymore, not that he was ever a brick wall in his channel. Words cannot fathom the level of this disaster. If only New Zealand would lose Carter or Nonu, that would even things up. So very frustrating. Peter finally selects our best 12, by far our best 12, and he gets injured!!
1 Oct 2011, 17:34 pm
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-106: Jean cant bash it up. It’s like a toddler trying to run through a wall. He is so incredibly blunt. He trotted through a massive gap yesterday, but the first defender nailed him easily despite that momentum. He also missed a very important tackle yesterday. Shot out of line and was left several meters behind everyone. Very embarrasing. Jean is no legend. He never was a great player, just an average one that had no competition. Frans should have been our 12 from the start of 2008.
1 Oct 2011, 18:56 pm
Fly Marius Joubert to NZ !!!
Just kidding
1 Oct 2011, 19:45 pm
Just read that Zane will fly out tonight to take Frans Steyns place.
What a massive mistake that is. If we were flying out a fb it should have been Taute or Viljoen. HUGE mistake sending for Zane. He is not up to this level.
How can we replace a world class player like Fransie with a CC at best player like Zane?
Now think we gonna mess with Lambie as well. Making him sit on the bench to cover all 3 positions.
See in the papers Lambie got a 9 out of 10 yesterday. The youngster was outstanding at fb.
1 Oct 2011, 19:50 pm
@Puma(Puma)-115:
At least we have specialist fullback again…
1 Oct 2011, 20:09 pm
@Getafix(phil72)-116: No not Zane buddy. He is just not up to it at this level. Rather Taute or Viljoen. We lose a world class player for at best a CC player. Zane is not great at all. The in-form fb at home is Taute. Viljoen is also great there. Far better than Zane.
Anyhow Lambie had a superb game there on Saturday. Reading the papers and they rated him 9. Got the highest rate out of any of the players.
1 Oct 2011, 20:36 pm
@Puma(Puma)-117:
Got to agree with you- It is probably only window dressing though and Zane will only be acquired to carry tackling bags- cannot see him making the bench in the one game that we have got left in the tournment
1 Oct 2011, 20:46 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-118: Rob I was so confident we would beat Oz if Fransie was there. We still could though. But please we can’t play Zane. NO-WAY he is just not up to it at this level. Anyhow I will still support our Boks. We still in this and we can beat Oz but with Fransie it would have been a whole lot easier. Not sure how Morne gonna play now either. With Frans there Morne was playing a whole lot better.
Remember we could still be facing Italy.
Who would have thought Tonga to beat France today? So Italy has a chance tomorrow as well.
GO THE AZZURRI…HEHEHE.
1 Oct 2011, 20:50 pm
Okay out of here now.
Catch up tomorrow.
Go the Azzurri….
1 Oct 2011, 21:39 pm
HUGE loss
((
Probably all but kills off our RWC hopes.
But PLEASE keep Ruan AWAY from the field.
1 Oct 2011, 22:39 pm
@Puma(Puma)-119: Morne wasn’t playing better at all, he always plays that well. What you are noticing is the work of a good 12. You cannot expect Morne to do the job of a 10 and a 12, that’s impossible. But now we are back to Jean, a substandard player. Never has he ever been a world class player. It’s pure arrogance to say that he is or ever was the best 12 in the world. Never has he ever played to Fransie’s standards.
1 Oct 2011, 23:10 pm
Breaking News: Dan Carter is out of RWC.
1 Oct 2011, 23:21 pm
Don’t know why this is even an issue. according to this site the Boks are going home after next week. with or without frans.
1 Oct 2011, 23:27 pm
Man, the only time Morne plays rugby is if our pack is going forward or if sub-standard opposition no10. Get that into your heads damnit. Time to give Butch a run and cut Cooper down to size. Our only hope of getting into the semis now that Frans is out !!
2 Oct 2011, 05:23 am
@Alucard(Alucard)-122: You really are a 24 carat D o o s. Your analysis is constantly so ignorant. If you were smart enough to realize this you would be too embarassed to go out in public. You keep beating ( or should that be bleating) the same doff drum.
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