In contention for 10
5 Jan 2012
JON CARDINELLI, writing in SA Rugby magazine, assesses the candidates who will be vying for the Springbok flyhalf jersey this year.
You’d read about it in a comic book or in a sport-meets-sci-fi short story. The powers that be respond to a World Cup failure by ordering their coaches and sport scientists to build the perfect player. Deep in the catacombs of the Newlands headquarters, the eggheads utilise advanced bio-technology to extract the strengths of each South African flyhalf and assemble a composite capable of spearheading a new breed of Springboks.
This hybrid possesses the boot of Morné Steyn, the vision of Ruan Pienaar, the cool composure of Pat Lambie and the innovation of Elton Jantjies. He has Butch James’s defensive belligerence, as well as Johan Goosen’s rare ability to nail long-range penalties. Rejoice all ye faithful South African supporters, for at long last we have manufactured the perfect 10.
It’s a fantastical scenario, but you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s going to take a laboratory experiment or even a radioactive spider bite to initiate South Africa’s flyhalf evolution. This country is blessed with an abundance of talent and yet the coaches continue to back limited players in the all-important position, or indeed fail to back those who have the potential to develop into something resembling the complete package.
In early 2008, Peter de Villiers expressed his desire to mould the Boks into a more threatening attacking unit. Ruan Pienaar was hailed as The Chosen One as the Boks embarked on a tour of the United Kingdom, and by the end of that three-match sojourn Pienaar had proved it was possible to strike a balance between running the ball and playing a more conservative, territory-oriented game.
In 2009, however, De Villiers lost faith in Pienaar as well as his own ambitious strive for duality. His selections, once made with the future good of the game in mind, became purely results driven. Pienaar was replaced by Steyn and while the selection brought the Boks short-term success, it proved to be a long-term decision that set South African rugby back four years. Predictably, the Boks stagnated in 2010 and 2011 and their subsequent World Cup quarter-final exit only underlined a pre-existing problem.
Most South African rugby supporters will want to forget about that disastrous campaign. They will want to read about the next Bok coach and the next group of players tasked with taking this nation forward. They have every right to feel enthused given that the well of talent in South Africa runs deep, but it would be foolish to ignore the failures of the past. The next Springbok coach has to take these harsh lessons into consideration when selecting his preferred flyhalf and formulating his game plan ahead of the 2012 season. What De Villiers’s tenure has provided is a blueprint of what not to do when it comes to managing key players and constructing playing patterns designed to win matches between and at big tournaments.
Steyn may have provided the Boks with goal-kicking security and a formidable tactical kicking game, but his weaknesses were mercilessly exposed by some of the better World Cup teams. Wales targeted his channel in South Africa’s opening game, while Samoa and Australia also enjoyed terrific momentum whenever they focused their attack on the limited No 10. With ball-in-hand, he played so deep in the pocket that he allowed opposition defences to negate South Africa’s attacking space. To paraphrase Eddie Jones, you just can’t afford to pick a flyhalf who plays in a dinner suit.
While the past few seasons have highlighted what is wrong with our rugby, they haven’t given us a definitive answer to the flyhalf question. If Steyn is unable to rectify his shortcomings, which after three international seasons looks to be the case, then the next Bok coach has to back someone new whether the goal is short-term success in 2012 or even long-term success in 2015.
Pat Lambie is a prime candidate. He was handed the flyhalf responsibility as a 20-year-old in the 2010 Currie Cup, and proved to be the difference in the final against Western Province. He was given limited opportunities on the Boks’ tour of the home nations, but honed his game in the 2011 Super Rugby tournament, particularly in the departments of tactical kicking and shooting for goal.
Lambie did an admirable job at fullback during the recent World Cup, but has the skill set to excel in a greater game-shaping role. After four seasons, Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has now decided that it’s time to move the supremely talented James O’Connor to inside centre or flyhalf. After a two-season apprenticeship, perhaps it’s time that Lambie made a similar shift to the playmaking axis.
That he has the composure to perform in a high-pressure environment is not in question, and his value on defence and attack has been evident in previous Tests against the home nations as well as in this year’s Tri-Nations Test in Wellington. That latter display was especially significant as Lambie showed that he could impose himself on attack despite the lack of momentum up front.
Elton Jantjies’s match-winning efforts in this year’s Currie Cup final capped an incredible comeback for a player who had struggled in the preceding Super Rugby competition. That he had the goal-kicking ability and tactical-kicking prowess to be a success was never in doubt, but what marked his recent rise was a new confidence on attack and a willingness to take on the defence. Next year’s Super Rugby instalment will show just how far he’s come in this respect, and will also serve as an indicator of his defensive progress. If he can build on his Currie Cup form, he should be groomed for the ultimate responsibility at Test level.
There are more established options that the incoming Bok coach may want to consider. Steyn is a safe bet as long as the Boks aren’t playing a team that can outmuscle them in the forwards. If he wants to be viewed as more than goal-kicking insurance or a one-trick pony in general play, he will need to prove that he’s capable of a more balanced game in the coming Super Rugby tournament.
It’s a tough ask given the Bulls are at the beginning of a rebuilding process and the bulk of their forward veterans, namely Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Danie Rossouw, Gary Botha and Gurthrö Steenkamp, have left the franchise. Unlike Lambie, Steyn has shown himself to be particularly susceptible when his pack is under pressure, and it would be a stretch to believe that he can develop while his forwards are losing the battle up front.
De Villiers abandoned the Pienaar experiment in 2009, and his successor is unlikely to reinstate the versatile player given all that has transpired over the past two seasons. Once open to the possibility of playing 10, Pienaar has declared himself a specialist scrumhalf since moving to Irish club Ulster in late 2010. His confidence has also been dented through the mismanagement of previous Bok coaches, and while it will remain one of the great tragedies that he wasn’t given a fair go at flyhalf, it’s a mistake the next coach won’t be able to rectify.
Peter Grant is another who has hurt his chances of a Bok recall by deciding to play at least half of each season abroad. After his first stint with the Kobe Steelers in Japan, he returned to the Stormers undercooked, and struggled to recapture his form as the 2011 Super Rugby competition progressed. While Grant’s general game has regressed since 2010, his line-kicking has been consistently underwhelming.
The Boks need more than a kicking flyhalf to be successful in 2012, but they also need a pivot who can play a territorial game when the situation demands it. Steyn doesn’t meet the requirement of a modern-day 10 because his attacking game and defence are substandard, and Pop-gun Pete is at the other end of the scale of flyhalves who lack a balanced game.
Apart from Lambie and Jantjies, there are several other youngsters who the Bok coach should be monitoring closely over the next year or so. Sias Ebersohn has flourished in the attack-minded Cheetahs set-up, while Lionel Cronjé has shown at times why Rassie Erasmus once touted him as the next Frans Steyn. Johan Goosen, a schoolboy prodigy who became a YouTube sensation thanks to his outrageous long-range penalty attempts, shouldn’t be spoken about in the national context just yet. What is clear at this point is that all three of these players have the raw potential to be something special.
Of the young prospects, Lambie has had the most opportunities with his franchise and the Boks, but needs to be managed carefully if he is going to be a driving force. Sharks incumbent Freddie Michalak enjoyed a good Currie Cup this year, but if the next Bok coach intends to use Lambie at flyhalf, the 21-year-old needs to be starting in that position for his franchise. That Michalak plans to return to France should also influence the Sharks coaches’ decision to start Lambie at No 10 sooner rather than later.
Lions coach John Mitchell publicly criticised Jantjies at the beginning of Super Rugby this year, but recognised the need to back the youngster towards the end of the tournament. Mitchell also stuck with Jantjies throughout the Currie Cup and preferred him ahead of Butch James when the Bok veteran returned from a failed World Cup campaign in late October. Mitchell should continue to play Jantjies in this key position in 2012. Jantjies’s performances in the 2011 Super Rugby tournament suggested he needed another season to develop, and the 2012 edition will show whether he’s made the necessary improvements to be considered a realistic candidate for Bok playmaker.
That the Boks need to start embracing all facets of the game and maximising their attacking potential is not up for debate, but as to who is worthy of that hallowed No 10 jersey will only be decided after several months of Super Rugby action. Providing the candidates receive sufficient opportunities to prove their worth, it promises to be an absorbing contest that will give the Bok coach something that his predecessors may have lacked: a number of balanced options.
– This article appeared in the December issue of SA Rugby magazine. The January-February issue is on sale now.
362 Comments
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5 Jan 2012, 16:01 pm
We should have the South African equivalent of The Contender.
But instead of boxing, they search for the Bok flyhalf. There’ll be different challenges, coping behind a weak pack, dealing with a kak scrummie on your inside (Special guest, Ricky Januarie), etc.
Sylvester Stallone can even host. Along with Naas Botha. The only shortcoming I can see is that they might not understand each other.
5 Jan 2012, 16:02 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-43:
not quite…
he was selected with carter and ahead of several other candidates including donald… so there was ‘design’ in choosing him in the wc squad… with 1 or 2 tests under his cap…
but my point is that GH thought he was good enough and had no problem selecting him… so although the ‘rule’ may be otherwise… henry had no problem breaking the rule for someone he thought worthy…
maybe as south africans we should not always be so structured and absolute in our thinking… maybe this more than anything else contributes to our failure…
5 Jan 2012, 16:03 pm
Listen listen listen…..if the Boks don’t hire a decent coach, you might as well be playing with okes from the local high school.
As with the All Islanders, they perfected the art of how to go into a loose maul illegally yet in such a way that the ref thinks it’s okay….and one can only do that by having a very sneaky coach.
Forget the players….South Africa has fantastic players in all positions…it’s the farking coach that makes ALL the difference.
5 Jan 2012, 16:08 pm
@Kietzphat-50: The Waratahs can polish him and then we can give him a run against England.
5 Jan 2012, 16:10 pm
My view:
1. Goosen
moerse gap…
2. jantjes
3. lambie
4 Ebersohn
5 van Aswegen
huge gap…….
6. The rest..
5 Jan 2012, 16:10 pm
@ufo-32: Haha I’m not burning to read it, to be honest.
The Vic book is taking a bit of an effort to get through, I’ll give my verdict at the end.
The fact that I haven’t finished it yet is, I guess, a comment in itself, since it usually takes me a day or so to read the average book.
You have a good Christmas?
5 Jan 2012, 16:10 pm
@kaksioek-46:
yeah… i know… but genuinely don’t know how many times he has started at 10… most times he’s played 10 for the boks has been as a sub…
think he’s actually started once or twice…
but even if it was all five times… dracula’s assertion that “He was tried there and failed spectacularly every time.” is way off the mark…
imo
5 Jan 2012, 16:14 pm
@stormersboy-56:
hehehe…
look forward to your impression of vic’s tome…
cool time thanks… very quiet and peaceful… lots of time on the mountain…
yourself…?
see you got your eagles tickets… where in the stadium if i may ask…?
5 Jan 2012, 16:14 pm
@Robzim-55: I’m not against Goosen per se, but he didn’t impress me at all in the u21 World Cup, and whilst he’s played really well for the Cheetahs and he’s a great prospect for sure, I’d need to see him play a good season of Super Rugby before i would consider him.
The only thing he has convinced me of thus far is that he can kick really well, and we already have a Bok 10 who can do that very well.
If he shows that his flyhalf play is up to it, I’d support his selection 100%, but he needs to still prove himself at Super rugby level IMO.
5 Jan 2012, 16:14 pm
@ufo-57: He hasn’t started many, no. He hasn’t played badly IMO either. His tackling in at least one of the games was outstanding – light and day compared to Morne.
5 Jan 2012, 16:14 pm
Jantjies and Goosen. The rest? Forget about it.
5 Jan 2012, 16:16 pm
@kaksioek-60:
i agree…
5 Jan 2012, 16:17 pm
@ufo-58: Yellow area just right of centre.
It was my pop’s 70th yesterday and I got him a ticket too. It’s difficult to buy for him and he enjoys his music so we’ll go and have a jol. My boet is coming too.
You get yours yet?
5 Jan 2012, 16:18 pm
@kaksioek-60: Light and day should be night and day of course!
5 Jan 2012, 16:19 pm
Early days, still
All depends on who the new appointed Boks coach.
There are 3 Flyhalves come to mind before the 2012 Super Rugby season, by its end perceptions will change
For now main contenders are Styen, Lambie and Jantjies
Goosen who isn’t tested at the Super Rugby level might well distinguished himeself although he has no reputable scrumhalf to feed him good ball.
Then there are Butch and Peter Grant as the safe, fall back option, depends again on who will be appointed as the coach.
With AC expect more of the same PdV’s mayhem
With Gert Smal as the coach it seemed the FH issue will not be a cardinal one, so take your pick.
5 Jan 2012, 16:24 pm
@stormersboy-63:
cool… good to go with family and/or friends…
got mine when the sales opened… really one of my top bands of all time…
i’m in purple area… FC… not sure if that stand for front and centre… but that’s where it is…
really looking forward to it…
but must say… makes me feel rather old that coldplay can sell out in half an hour or so…. but the eagles don’t sell out in weeks…
eagles have sold more albums in america than any other band… and in the world right up there with the beatles…
5 Jan 2012, 16:25 pm
@ufo-52:
yes, but you know this is only because they failed miserably in the 1 and 2 year run up to the wc to find a competent stand-in
or (more apropriately) that their stand-in’s miserably failed them, whichever works.
and that slade only got thrown into the deep end in pe to protect carter, also that had carter not been injured the stand-in’s would have remained just that and would have been worked in post wc probably.
besides, if anything slade sank rather than swam.
why would starting lambie, goosen or jantjies from a bench position be a backwards thinking move by the new coach?
5 Jan 2012, 16:30 pm
I still reckon Morne Steyn has alot to offer Bok rugby!! He will definitely be in pole position for the Bok 10 jersey outside of him i reckon Lambie is next. Lambie such cool composure at the RWC. As far as 12 goes, F Steyn all the way!!
5 Jan 2012, 16:33 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-67:
for sure ARMTNAR… but i’m not talking about slade’s ability… just henry’s selection of him…
he could just as easily picked donald from the get go as back up to carter… donald is competent… maybe never set the world on fire… but solid… and he did step up to the plater for the final…
point still being… henry had no prob going against the grain… i still think we’re too rigid in our thinking…
5 Jan 2012, 16:33 pm
@New Bok Coach-53:
@Hondo-65:
agreed the new coach will decide things wrt the flyhalf.
but circumstance will also decide things for the new coach who be deciding things…
5 Jan 2012, 16:35 pm
@Alucard-37:
Are you r etarded or only 1 year old.
I ask this because if you are only 1, you never saw the CC FINAL 2010 where he was man of the match and scored 25 of the 30 points scored that day.
Playing flyhalf.
And he has only started 1 game at flyhalf for the Boks. Against the All Blacks in last years tri nations when we sent our B team over there. Hardly reason to say he has NEVER performed at flyhalf for the Boks.
He’s come on 4 times as a sub at FH and all the rest at FB.
Please, pull your head out your arsehole before you just make blanket statements like that on a public bog.
5 Jan 2012, 16:35 pm
@ufo-66: Yeah to me there’s no comparison.
Didn’t go to coldplay, I enjoy them but you have to pick your concerts these days. Makes a big change from when the early ’90′s when we had just had our cultural embargo lifted and one of the first bands that came here was Indecent Obsession. They had a 1 hit with that some strawberry lips.
And we all went to watch them lol.
How times have changed.
5 Jan 2012, 16:42 pm
@stormersboy-72:
yeah… like kids let loose in a candy store…
not saying coldplay are turkeys… but i’d rather soar with the eagles…
parachutes is a helluva good album… but not quite hotel california…
anyway off for now…
cheers…
5 Jan 2012, 16:43 pm
@John Galt-71:
thank you…!!
5 Jan 2012, 16:50 pm
All the best for 2012 everyone.
5 Jan 2012, 16:51 pm
@ufo-69:
would henry ever have picked slade or donald to start over carter?
even now after the wc?
i think not, he would pick any of them as a stand-in backup though with the possibliity of them working their way into the starting slot.
thats my point.
the margins for winning games, in rugby, at the top is too small and too tight for any of the big three coach’s to gamble with losing four big games in one season.
yes, the boks and wallabies may lose that many to the ab’s but its certainly not by design. in fact the intention is the exact opposite. we seem prepared to gamble one or maybe two throwaway games but for the rest there’s incredible pressure to win.
none of these teams pick rookie flyhalves from the get go unless forced to by injury.
5 Jan 2012, 16:51 pm
PARTING SHOT?
My “view” is, at least, 90% of you really STINK.
Does that mean my view is anywhere near being accurate at all?
Surely cannot be so, really considering all the Aramis, Fahrenheit, Polo and Old Spice used?
The POINT is opinions, views, notions and such like count for F O K K O L, especially if they are nowhere being highly informed at all.
Only informed opinions, or better still, the truth bear any weight in the real world out there.
What really is the informed basis of motivation for the lofty “view” of one ,Goosen? Is it his ‘brilliant’ performances in the Jnr WC recently in Italy against peers who out-performed him in that tourney? Or is it what he did in a supposed CC(really Vodacom cup)? Is it perhaps that he has a worthy Herrenvolk name and comes from the required and worthy ‘cultural’ background and lives close to Orania?
Has he ever shown more than Lambie and Jantjies who even at their young ages have infinitely more experience and worthiness and have shown more for genuine consideration the position?
Where is the persperctive and why is it always twisted or vastly missing in present day S.Africa?
Distortions, twisting of the facts, cover-ups, deluded opinions, prop-ups, outright lies, is it all, like misguided perspectives part of the game of shame here now?
5 Jan 2012, 16:52 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-76: Dude, if we had Carter this thread wouldn’t exist.
5 Jan 2012, 16:57 pm
@Alucard-37: What you on about? Lambie has only ever started at fh against NZ with 3rd string Boks last year. All our top Boks were in Rustenburg training for the wc. Or have you forgotten.
Pat’s only time he played for the Boks with most top Boks was on the eoyt last year and even then he never started one of those games, he only came on as a sub in the last 15min or so. So how the heck can you say he failed when he has never ever been given the chance to start at 10 with the top Bok players playing?
Give Lambie the amount of chances that Morne has had and let us talk then.
Jeepers you talking nonsense now Alucard.
5 Jan 2012, 16:57 pm
kaksioek#78 – MM Dan Carter still hasn’t won a RWC and will probably not make the next one!! DC never had the mental edge for the RWC but absolutely sublime inbetween. Ok he did injure himself during this RWC but i have a hunch that was probalby down to nerves affecting him!!
5 Jan 2012, 16:59 pm
@Robzim-55: I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING MORE OF gOOSEN….Fark sorry caps
havent seen a lot of him as yet.
just not M Steyn
liewe biksem
5 Jan 2012, 17:00 pm
@race of tan-68: Agree.
Frans Steyn definitely has that 12 jersey. Let us see Lambie at 10 with Steyn at 12.
5 Jan 2012, 17:01 pm
@ET.-77: I think your nose is too close to your ar se Dr Dooliitle.
It’s your own bullshi t that you are smelling.
But I agree, it stinks.
5 Jan 2012, 17:02 pm
@race of tan-80: He has a RWC winner’s medal.
5 Jan 2012, 17:04 pm
go proteas
moer hulle
5 Jan 2012, 17:05 pm
@kaksioek-78:
you say this as if we’re stuck with slade or donald.
5 Jan 2012, 17:06 pm
@ufo-57: Howzit ufo,
How you bud? Hope well and all the best for 2012.
You correct Lambie has only started once at fh for the Boks and then we can’t take that game serious. It was last year in NZ with a 3rd string Boks. The top players were all here training for wc. The other games at fh was eoyt last year when he only came on as a sub for about 15min in each game. He has not really been given a good chance there yet. My feeling if left there and given the amount of chances that Morne has had we will see a really top class fh in Pat.
I also think he is equally good at fb. He proved himself there in the wc. Solid there all the time.
5 Jan 2012, 17:07 pm
9 sarel pretorious
10 jantjes….Lambie….Goosen ….[ no M Steyn ffs man ]
12 F Steyn
13 jdj
14 jpp
11 aplon
15 taute
bobs your aunt
5 Jan 2012, 17:08 pm
grant10 – your team stinks. F Steyn and J Fourie looked great last year and that should be the Bok centres for the forseeable future.
5 Jan 2012, 17:08 pm
grant10 – Aplon is too small for international rugby!!
5 Jan 2012, 17:10 pm
lambie …Jantjes and Goosen…
All awesome prospects….
Lets see how they fare at the Super 15…
Not that 1 dimensional 1 tricj skop en jag artist asseblief….
no going back to the laager…….assevokkenblief
5 Jan 2012, 17:13 pm
@race of tan-89: is JF available?@race of tan-90: ag gaan kak in die mielies man!
5 Jan 2012, 17:17 pm
@ET.-77:
Getting rid of Morne Steyn is like getting rid of Ken Bates. A must.
5 Jan 2012, 17:19 pm
@race of tan-90:
Like Shane Williams?
5 Jan 2012, 17:26 pm
@Jinx2-93:
Totally agree with you Jinxie.
Bates is the real Mighty Whites’ cancer of death. Still,however, MOT.
Not concerned about the FA cup. For us it5s promotion or Bates out.
You, at least here deal with facts while unworthy ones enjoy themselves in the gutter of trash and naked emotions on keo, going around smelling arses.
5 Jan 2012, 17:26 pm
Jinx – What about the little big man with a heart of a lion, Breyton Paulse!! Tackled Lomu by himslef, S Williams never Aplon poo his panties!! Problem is Aplon game is rather limited, you need to be a big tackle in this day and age. Aplon will be a good super sub!!
5 Jan 2012, 17:27 pm
Grant10 – What on earth is happening with the new Bok coach selection?
5 Jan 2012, 17:33 pm
@race of tan-96:
Just contending that size is not the issue. Aplon is courageous. But very much agree on super sub strategy. Will bury opposition with tired legs.
5 Jan 2012, 17:43 pm
@ET.-95:
Woody was prepared to come back, But Bates would not cut a deal, All we need is a general at the back.
5 Jan 2012, 17:46 pm
@race of tan-97: not sure
seems like Smal
Schalk for cappy if rumours to be believed.
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