Morne must show mettle
16 Oct 2012
RYAN VREDE writes Morne Steyn needs to continue his goal- and tactical-kicking form if he is to be a justifiable pick for the Springboks’ year-end tour.
Steyn was very good in these disciplines in the Bulls’ 50-29 victory over the Lions at Ellis Park at the weekend, kicking 22 points, a number of those from difficult angles. His tactical kicking, whether high punts or drives into space, were accurate and put the Bulls into good positions from which they were able to exert pressure on the Lions and force penalties or turnovers.
This is pertinent because Steyn is certainly still in the Springbok mix for the year-end tour, despite being dropped from the match-day squad for the home Rugby Championship Tests against Australia and New Zealand. Indeed coach Heyneke Meyer may well reinstate him to a starting role in light of Johan Goosen’s injury-enforced absence and his belief that Steyn’s strengths will suit the conditions they are expected to face in Europe.
It is imperative that Meyer doesn’t select Steyn on his potential to deliver the accuracy in execution, but on an observable rise in his form in this regard. The Bulls’ pattern mimics the Springboks’ (the one they will implement on tour) almost exactly, so the comparison is a like for like one. It relies heavily on the flyhalf’s ability to play for field position and to convert penalties into points. On the evidence of their inconsistent attacking play in the Rugby Championship, goal conversion will take on added importance.
Steyn’s poor goal-kicking in the Dunedin Test against the All Blacks ultimately cost him his Springbok shirt. He had also kicked badly by his standards throughout the Bulls’ Super Rugby campaign, which Meyer suggested was a consequence of a three-year run without an adequate break.
Steyn’s shooting boot became progressively more erratic as the pressure on him mounted with the Springboks, but he responded well under significant pressure at Ellis Park (the Bulls needed to win to make the play-offs). A better measure of the health of his fractured confidence will come at Kings Park on Saturday, where he has not played well this season, bombing with the Bulls in their 32-10 Super Rugby defeat and failing to impress for the Springboks against England in June.
The Sharks pack were dominant in the aforementioned fixture, bossing the Bulls’ heavies at the gainline on defence and in so doing cutting down the space and time Steyn had to operate in. I suspect this will be the case once more, and Steyn will be hard pressed for a telling rebuttal.
But he must show mettle, particularly when presented with goal-kicking opportunities. I would understand the logic of Meyer picking him above Elton Jantjies for the year-end tour, but I will never accept handouts for struggling players. Steyn must prove himself deserving of a Springbok return.
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21 Comments
16 Oct 2012, 07:25 am
no need to go backwards HM…retain the faith…
16 Oct 2012, 07:45 am
morne will bank most of the match winning points on saturday.
and the fairies will be beside themselves with ‘i nearly died’s'…
16 Oct 2012, 07:50 am
Do your thing .
16 Oct 2012, 08:07 am
RYAN VREDE writes Morne Steyn needs to continue his goal- and tactical-kicking form if he is to be a justifiable pick for the Springboks’ year-end tour.
Wrong!
He needs to improve his general backline play and bring his backs more into the game. He should stop standing in the pocket and stand more flatter giving his backline more momentum. Until he does that on a consistent basis he should stay the hell away from a bok jersey
16 Oct 2012, 08:20 am
Lets wait and see this “form” Vrede is going on about.
16 Oct 2012, 08:38 am
@skunk-5: Have to agree with you. MS has not been impressive at all since 2009. Mind you, the boks were on fire and it makes it easy for a 10 to dictate play. I still don’t see why MS is in the bok set-up. He is a k@k flyhalf and doesn’t have the ability to put his backline away. Butch James was the last flyhalf to do that properly
16 Oct 2012, 08:55 am
HM is, unfortunately, a coach who learns very very slowly.
He has painfully selected players who are not the best in their positions in the country only to find that things dont go well …
He will ride the Morne train a few more stations, a few more lost opportunities, a few more tears (and smashed two way radios)
Unfortunately it is the thinking of Pretoria – The way of the Bull.
At least he does learn though.
The doctor has spoken
16 Oct 2012, 09:12 am
Yip Morne to show how many up and unders he can kick in a single game!!!
16 Oct 2012, 09:37 am
@dr dre-7: Dr What you say is right and wrong..
All coaches play a gameplan that they believe is one that will win them tropheys.
The kicking game of the Bulls have done just that… won tropheys.
Its also true that all competitors want to counter this winning formulae, This is where we are now other teams have caught up with the kicking game of the Bulls, the game plan now must be changed to a new style.
In the same manner the Stromers have been working on a defence type of game , this has resulted in them playing not to lose games but, it was shown as a plan that focus is on not to lose rather than winning.
Lions and Cheethas played , running everything , this seemed to be working in cc for Lions but not Cheethas.
This leaves us with Sharkies , they seemed to have found the balance between all of the above, their latest results show this.
16 Oct 2012, 10:36 am
1 decent game does not equate to continuing form.
I wish MS all the best but this talk about him being re-instated to fly half after Goosen got injured is just dreadfull news.
We will be going backwards as MS has been poor for past 2 years
16 Oct 2012, 11:16 am
I see this thread is slow in gaining traction, and I think I know why. The headline has confused most of the Bulls fans. To clear things up, this mettle refers to his spirit and courage and NOT his Def Leppard CDs.
16 Oct 2012, 11:28 am
@capebull-9:
One has to remember that the bulls/boks tactics (kicking chase game and kicking for touch) relied on the opposition to make mistakes (cause penalties), to force turnovers and most importantly for them to kick for touch to relieve the pressure, therefor giving the possession back to the boks via lineouts. And then the the whole process would start all over again maintaining and increasing the pressure by ticking the scoreboard with penalties…
But our lineout is not as intimidating as it once was…So the opposition dont mind kicking it back or taking their own lineout… Making kicking for territory less effective.. That is an extremely important but underrated factor why these tactics are ineffective and having a kicking flyhalf like Morne Steyn even more illogical…
In point the bulls and boks lineouts had a lot more to do with their success largely due to Matfield’s lineout expertise… A great kicking flyhalf needs a pack of forwards who can do a great job at dominating the lineout…
And people tend to forget that the accurate kicking game which made these tactics so effective was largely due to FDPs accurate kicking game, and not MSs…
16 Oct 2012, 11:37 am
@papaown-10: I agree it will be 13058029385 steps backward!
Why dont HM give the best young players the same support, belief and guidance he has been giving MS? SA have never produced so many great young talent at flyhalf at the same time, so why are they being neglected? Goosen, Jantjies and Lambie should be the talking point and be players to be optimistic about! Not whether or not MS can have a decent game every now and then!!
16 Oct 2012, 11:39 am
i don’t care what type of metal – panga or meat cleaver – morne shows if he STILL thinks like this:
‘I can improve a lot as an attacking flyhalf,’ Steyn said, 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.’
he can cool his jets with his wife and new kid!
why must something you’ve apparently been doing ALL your life “suffer” because you’re learning a new skill?
16 Oct 2012, 11:58 am
#smh
16 Oct 2012, 12:12 pm
Morne must show mettle
Wrong!
Morne must take his wife and kid on a nice holiday to Italy or Spain or Wherever but not in Ireland, Scotland or England.
16 Oct 2012, 15:53 pm
A few weeks ago and any Morne thread would have had 500 angry posts. Times have changed, he’s already forgotten. Even AIG sponsoring the ABs had a better response.
Keo, you better find some other hot topic to generate hits. What about Mitch going to Sale or why Bakkies needs to come out of international retirement?
16 Oct 2012, 15:55 pm
@gonzo-17: This thread would have generated 500 posts, if it wasn’t competing with the LAMBIE thread
This thread was set up to fail.
16 Oct 2012, 15:56 pm
Morne and mettle in the same sentance?
How times have changed
16 Oct 2012, 17:19 pm
It isn’t about the kicking,. Morne Steyn is not a good flyhalf, he is predictable, slow to react, stands to deep and offers the rest of the backline no opportunity to fire at all. This makes the Boks a predictable and easy side to defend against. If HM picks Morne again, then he is just proving to us all that he is a brain dead relic of the past and has no place coaching our national side, which should be building and going forward. The rules have been changed to suit the AB style of play, the game is not what it used to be, and we need to change with it. We could find our own best way to adapt, but not using tactics that worked in the past, for a different game.
16 Oct 2012, 22:20 pm
@Sasuke-4: stand more flatter
you mean flatterder?
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