A more adventurous Morne?

Everybody's favourite whipping boy, Morne Steyn, did a few surprising things yesterday. Firstly he started missing kicks....something that may ultimately undo him. But he also tackled with assurance making all his tackles and he was targeted by the Poms.

Most interesting though, was his willingness to run with the ball....he made a nice run up the left side at one point.....and his try was no gimme, he had to beat a player with no space, which he did with a clever dummie.

And while I didn't much care for his flat cross kick at that stage, one has to admit that was also not a typical Morne decision.

It seems to me he is being pushed to do a little more with the ball and while he will never be a threat like Goosen, that strikes me as a good thing. Place kicking excepted, that was one of his better tests.

 Swirling wind may have gotten to him.  The wonders of a good coach perhaps?  Getting Morne to play a little more the way he used to when he was a youngster?

They way he was playing he deserves to be in the team. I have sometimes been his biggest critic, but he showed yesterday that he can run the ball and get his backline into the game. I have seen him play well for the Bulls, but is usually one dimensional for the boks like missiekind

Maybe Missiekind will also start playing well for the boks?

I saw the slight changes in Morne Steyn - but unfortunately it was at thee expense of his kicking game - whether conversions or other kicks.   My conteintion is still that he is not a natural type of attacking flyhalf player and that he has to do more - because otherwise he would be replaced.   The missing conversions and the effort to work harder showed some signs of stress - so maybe the pressure is getting to him

 The sooner we see the back of him the better I say

We have seen the best of Morne...

Now ask yourself the question...

Is he good enough to win us a world cup?

Simple answer = No.

He is not the best defender and on attack, he will never be dynamic.

Yeah, he's a handy replacement.... But I dont think he is our best bet.

His game aint gonna improve any more. He is beyind that now.

Guys like Lambo, Goose and Big Tony need opportunities now.

Each one of them have something special.

So I'd say... off with Morne's head.

I'm tired of people hoping / praying that he will some how miraculously become a dynamic number 10.

Morné has often used the ball well. I even recalled last year against Australia where he made a blinside break beating two defenders and sending Mvovo away. All ignored, just as much as the good work that Habana had done despite a dearth of possession over the past four years. It's all perception.

Freeze frame any attacking play by Carter and Cooper, or even Goosen, the moment they are about to pass. Look at what is going on around them. This is what makes attacking play, and this is what had been missing the past four years! But these clumpy oafs don't understand enough about the game to even consider these things. When pressed about the Bulls attacking play and Morné's role in that, they simply go quiet, lie or fabricate a grand delusion as to why he was not a factor. Idiocy doesn't even come half way near quantifying how stupid his critics are. And they believe it just because Keo or some other idiotic and biased journo says so. Or in people like Mike's case, pure provincialism.

Now onto tackling, name one dominant defender at 10 in South Africa. It used to be Butch, but he is too inaccurate these days, thus missing up to 3 tackles each time trying to land those big hits. It isn't Goosen either, who at times has been a turnstile. Lambie is definitely not. So whilst Morné is not the most dominant defensive 10, he has passed many a test. Be that his SANZAR peers or tough opposition like the Samoans. It's funny to think that the most successful attacking 10 over the past 3 years, in South Africa, has in fact been Morné. He is the most well rounded 10 we have and by far the best suited to test rugby. These clowns like Lambie, Jantjies etc will come and go, but Morné will always be better. And to all those who disagree, finally put some evidence on the table. I'm sick to death of listening to big mouths that show nothing for it. You are all so damn cocky in bleating that Morné is worthless, then prove it.
 

I love your statements and can only laugh at the ridiculous conclusions you make.   lets look at the following one:-

"Freeze frame any attacking play by Carter and Cooper, or even Goosen, the moment they are about to pass. Look at what is going on around them. This is what makes attacking play, and this is what had been missing the past four years! "

Who was the Springbok flyhalf over the past four years - when we lost most of the tests in TN?  Was it not Steyn?    Was our back line functioing properly in attack?   The answer is NO WAY.   The reason is clear - both the scrummy and the flyhalf played the same ten men game.    Morne could never function as a linking back line player.    On Saturday he tried to - but he was average in that regard.   What helped also on Saturday that he defended better than normal.   However, his kicking game deteriorated so that was a negative.   

Now for another joke - I am accused of provincialism .  Nice joke that one.   I lived in Bellville for 2 years - in Pretoria for 12 years and on the Natal coast for the past 37 years.   If I was a provincial idiot - which you are - then I defnitely would be a supporter of the Sharks.   I am and am proud of the fact that I am. it.   But I severely critisize some of the Sharks players - so out of the window goes your accusation.   The pot calling the kettle black?     

To come back to Morne Steyn.   I think he is feeling the heat - hence his change in game on Saturday.   I think that he realized that unless he does something to portray a better performing flyhalf - he would be out of contention soon.   He definitely tried - but his succes rate was 50-50.   The negative was his poor kicking game - so he remains under threat of replacement.   The prime candidate is Goosen, but there are other threats as well.

Morne always based his entire game plan on ten men rugby and he is normally utterly predictable.  He would stand back far - get the ball and kick it away.    On Saturday  he tried to play a linking game for a change - but that could be due to insistence by the coach and captain that he improve his passing game.   All-round flyhalf - what a joke.    In any event the joke is on you - in six months time Morne would be out of contention for Springbok selection.

Lastly -  Monseur L'idiote - which team is top of the conference log in Super 15?   In the last six games of the competition played thus far the Bulls were poor - and the problems were basically Hougaard and Steyn, so now run to Mummy and complain abhout those nasty board members - who differ from you.

"Morne always based his entire game plan on ten men rugby and he is normally utterly predictable.  He would stand back far - get the ball and kick it away."

Ignorance shown up.

"Morne always based his entire game plan on ten men rugby and he is normally utterly predictable.  He would stand back far - get the ball and kick it away."

Ignorance shown up.

Still not as bad as this foulmouted tennis player who pretends to know something about rugby .. What a twat.

 The sooner we see the back of him the better I say

You seem to be yapping at my heels again - lunaprick. How about a rugby related post from you? Try something original without having to google it!!!

You seem to be yapping at my heels again - lunaprick. How about a rugby related post from you? Try something original without having to google it!!!

 Seems you are so good at name calling and insulting people you had to do it twice.. Ha,ha,ha.

Read some more, you will find many RUGBY posts by me and not initiating fights by calling all and sundry names if they do not agree with your codswallop.  Which circus do you work for by the way?

Where did I initiate anything you idiot and kindly point me in the direction of any rugby related post you have ever made - take your time you waste of space and stop yapping at my heels its embarrassing man

@Aristocrat

Ag come on brother.

Tell me you are kidding!!!

When we had Butch at 10 in 2006 / 07 we had a really nice attacking game... with JDV, JF and BH outside him.

Now... since 2019 (Morne's watershed year), we've had a severe dry spell!

So dry that I shudder to imagine the explosion when the we are relieved of Morne's inability to open up.

Imagine Frans, Bryan, JDV and even Pietersen all running riot with Goosen or Jantjies giving them some great ball for a change!

Look, there is one thing that all you anti Morne people are forgetting, the Bulls play to a specific game plan. Morne is told to kick the ball a lot, and that is what he does. For the most part his tactical kicking is accurate and that has been a large part of the Bulls success over recent years. So why is it his fault if he is listening to his coaches and sticking to a game plan? If he was kicking against his coaches wishes he would have been booted from the team ages ago. Same goes for Steyn playing for the Boks under Peter De Villiers. When Morne first came onto the scene for the Bulls he was an attacking flyhalf and as we saw this weekend, he can still get a backline going and do some attacking/finishing himself. Obviously Meyer has given him a licence to play a different kind of gam to what we have seen from him in the past, and that is why he did relatively well this weekend.

The fact that he is known as a "Kicking Flyhalf" is due to the strategies employed by the teams he has played for. He is a good all round flyhalf, and although his defence is not the best in the world, it is certainly on par for a flyhalf...as was illustrated this weekend against the English.

Goosen is the Future flyhalf, I agree to that, but at this point, Steyn is still our best option. As for Lambie, he again did nothing special in his time on the field this weekend....as has been the case for most of the season at the Sharks, especially at 10. He is good, but not great. He is still our best option at 15 though, so Kirchner can take a hike.

That could well bet the case Bluebok, but then again, how often do you see Morne just kicking away a "good running ball" just for the sake of kicking it away. He also do not just run or a pass a bal for the sake of running or passing it, which IMO, explains why there is almost a near equal spread between his kick/pass/run stats. In fact, on Saturday he kicked a bit less than usual 9/17/6 (Opposing FH - 5/18/3). The same in the Bulls' last game against the Stormers 8/29/4 (Opposing FH - 6/21/6)

His last number of games:

Chiefs: 7/14/2 (Opposing FH - 11/12/6)

Highlanders: 12/15/2 (Opposing FH - 8/32/11)

Tahs: 9/14/4 (Opposing FH - 8/32/8)

Rebels: 13/15/3 (Opposing FH - 12/29/16)

Ceradyne

I have no problem with a kicking flyhalf -  but then there must be variation on the play as well.   The variation must also be effective.   Some passing games are too slow and on Saturday if you analyze the way th ball was at times passed - it really was ineffective and caused crash ball play by Francois Steyn.   Really a problem for the future.