A bit of clarity on Frans Steyn

This 365 interview pretty much says everything that's been obvious. He is overweight, has lost some confidence and might be better off at fullback for a while. But I think, if he is moved, that's where he stays....largely because the Sharks will likely function better with him away from 12. At 105 kgs I still believe Fransie is a much better option at 15 than Taute or Kirchner.

 

Sharks' coach John Plumtree has defended struggling centre Frans Steyn after his indifferent start to the Super Rugby competition.

However, the Kiwi coach said he could shift the Springbok star to fullback over the coming weeks.

Steyn has looked out of sorts in the No. 12 jersey during the opening four games of the season, with criticism mounting about his performances, especially in the side's 29-10 humbling by the Brumbies in Durban at the weekend.

"It doesn't take a brain surgeon to work out that he's not quite at his best," Plumtree said on Tuesday.

"He's a quality player and that won't just dry up and go away. I think he has a bit of work to do and he'll admit that himself. It was only two months ago the guy was at 118 kilograms. He'd comeback from a bad ankle injury and he hadn't played for months.

"Now we've got him down to 110kgs and his best fighting weight will be 105 or 106kgs."

Steyn's innocuous form has coincided with a struggling Sharks' attack that has scored just one try in their four outings thus far, while their defence was torn to shreds against the table-topping Brumbies.

They named an unchanged match 22 during their three-match unbeaten start, before making some alterations against the Australians, some partly through injury.

Plumtree's side are still without centre Tim Whitehead, who was a key backline figure last season, because of a broken arm.

"We are clearly missing a guy like Tim Whitehead in midfield. He'll be back soon and so will Frans," the coach said.

"I'm keen on playing him. He's been out of Super Rugby for a long time playing overseas for three years, so it's going to take him a little while."

Asked whether he would consider shifting the 25-year-old World Cup winner from centre to fullback, Plumtree said it could happen as soon as this weekend.

"I could if Louis Ludik's not fit on the weekend, which he might not be, then we'll possibly put him there," Plumtree said.

Ludik, who has a shoulder injury, was one of three players with an injury cloud hanging over their heads ahead of the clash against the Rebels.

Springbok prop Jannie du Plessis has a thigh problem, while lock Anton Bresler (shoulder) is also doubtful.

All three have not taken part in training this week, although they might participate in some sessions closer to the game.

 

Mozart

I asked a question elsewhere about Saffex - he swore all along that Steyn was just fine - and what now?   I suppose like in the Taute case - Saffex will put a spin to the statement making it virtually unrecognisable from what was originally said..

I personally think that before Steyn is considered for future election he will have to get his weight down to 105-106 kgs and  will have to regain his speed.  I think his playing days as a center is over - he just do not have the technique to function in that position properly.  I agree that he is likely to be moved to 15 and that is where he will stay in fuiture.

 

Frans will not stay at 15, he might fill in there if Ludik is injured. Meyer has gone on record saying Frans will only play at 12 and if memory serves me correctly his Sharks contract was on condition that he played mostly at 12.......but I might be wrong.

 

Frans will be fine, he was good at the start of the S15 but has slipped along with the rest of the Sharks. The Sharks cannot progress with the useless Bosman at 12 and Whitehead after an impressive start to last years S15, slipped in a big way.

 

Frans will stay at 12 and will be the Bok 12 - mark my words 

Well Dave my own take, as you know, is different. I think Fransie is as lost at 12 as he was at 10. Maybe more so, because at 10 at least he was expected to kick, something he does reasonably well. He has had lots of solid games at 15 for the Boks, frankly I can't recall one at centre.

 

I do agree with you that no other SA backs are really setting the game alight. Jean and JP are coasting....waiting for bigger things. Lambie I thought showed some good signs on Saturday De Allende had a fine game against the Chiefs which has to count for something.

 

But if you look at that Pom backline with burrowing Barrit and those two useless wings....they aren't any better. Centre play has been abysmal so far this year, with the exception of the French 12. Wings have had their moments, but often off broken play. The fact is there is really nothing much to write home about so far.

Yeah Moz, our backs have been poor in particular the experienced players but its early days yet and the lack of dominance by the forwards has hardly helped. I dont get why our S15 coaches seem to think we can dictate play with packs that contain players that are not quite up to the mark physically at 2, 4 or 5 and 7.

 

Frans is ideal for 12 in the modern game, but only if he plays like he did in game 1 of the S15 and not game 4, where he took on the crashball route. Frans has the perfect skill set for 12, he is creative and a physical brute. He is the one player who is able to impose himself physically in contact.  Contact plays a major part of the test arena but what we dont want from a 12 is crashballer. Frans needs to back his skills to beat defenders in traffic and offload to support players - something he did perfectly twice in game 1. That is the model.

 

But its clear that fatigue and lack of fitness is catching up with him as he looked flat in last two games. But he has the intensity of the S15 to get himself into shape, so chances are we will see a Frans revival.

 

Frans is a good 15, but better suited to 12 in my opinion. But we need Frans and all our backs to find form and start making the impressions we expect of them. But they can only do this if the coaches select accordingly and start by finding more grunt in the packs. There are no excuses as the squads contain these players, but our coaches tend to choose the conservative route and go with the experienced players like Deon Fourie, de Kock Steenkamp, Willie Wepner, Jeandre Kruger, Stegman, Burden, Franco v/d Merwe and Kankowski........a reshuffle of the sides should see these physically lacking players discarded for younger more physical specimens like Ruan Botha, Steph du Toit, JA Marais, Cyle Cooper, Paul Willemse, Callie Visagie, Grant Hattingh and Jean Cook for instance.

 

In the backs we need the youngsters to step up like de Allende, Petersen, Goosen and Rhule have. Taute and JJ have had little game time, Jordaan has been disappoining but equally lacked opportunities and hopefully with Olivier now injured, we will get to witness what Jan Serfontein has to offer and with Habana out, hopefully v/d Heever will be given a sniff.

Saffex

I am with mozart on this one.   I think Steyn probably was at 118 or thereabouts when he played for the Springboks last year.  In February he looked slimmer to me  in PMB -  I said so on this site -  than he was in the tests last year.  

His showing in the tests last year was unimpressive to say the least and the same can be said in all the matches he played in Super 15 this year.   He did not lose form suddenly after round 3 - he was the same in rounds 2 and 3 that he was in rounds 4 and 5.   I personally think that Steyn would not return anytime soon to play at 12 - that is if he ever does.   When Whitehead comes back - and if the Sharks backline functions better without Steyn at 12 - the chances of his return to 12 may be near to zero.   What may happen is that he plays at 15 aftr his return to fitnes and that he then plays on the bench and brought in to 12 to see whether he can fir into that position again.   What is evident that him remaining at 12 is not an option at this stage - he will be removed from there.

We will see by tomorrow what is going to happen - so lets wait and see which way the wind is blowing.

 

There is absolutely no doubt that Frans Steyn is a great and gifted player and the fact that he is presently struggling to get back to what he was recognised for. This type of player can come back...he is struggling with weight and Saffex correctly summed up the reasons for this...married to a lovely wife etc...good cook obviously...he is still young and has still got a lot to offer. I believe he is committed to trimming down and getting back to peak form and it is also obvious that he now realises that but in all fairness (this not an excuse) how can he be expected to perform when a vast majority of his team mates are not pulling their weight. To state the very obvious...rugby is a team game and sometimes we lose focus on that.

In case our memories are like an eighty year altzheimer sufferer, a brief history of his accolades:-

 

He was a key member of the South African team that won the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He is renowned for his long distance kicking ability and strong tackling. He debuted at wing against Ireland, he scored a try on his debut. In his next international match he was moved to fullback against England, scoring a long range drop-goal, from his own half. Steyn has shown to possess superb goal kicking qualities as well   He kicked two drop goals in the 2007 Tri Nations opener against Australia at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town, to win the game for the Springboks. One of these, a 42 metre effort from a fielded clearance kick next to the sideline, and another three minutes from time next to the posts about 30 metres out. In South Africa's first game at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, their star centre Jean de Villiers got injured. Steyn replaced him, playing only his second game at professional level at inside centre, but he made a break on first touch of the ball and his inclusion sparked the Springboks to a 37–0 second half demolition of Samoa. Steyn was the starting inside centre for the Springboks in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final, he made a fantastic break that resulted in a penalty for the Boks and also converted one himself later on in the game. He is therefore the youngest player to win a Rugby World Cup.  

 As a man who also struggles a bit with my weight from time, I can actuall understand why Saffex has such a soft spot for Fransie.

Maar alle grappies op a stokkie, I am also of opinion that Fransie will regain form sooner rather than later, but like some others I also prefer him @ 15, this will bring his long range drop goals into play again. That would provide the kind of edge that served us well in tight games before. ATM it is wasted by playing him @ 12, and that on the assumption that he will evolve into a super center at the age of 25.