Rugby 365 gave Frans a 4 and Nonu a 7. Planet rugby gave Frans a 6.5 and Nonu a 7.....saying:
12 Ma'a Nonu: His strong running made a definite impact, and the battle between him and Frans Steyn was a brutal one. Nonu was immovable, and didn't miss a single tackle. 7/10
How you got Fransie dominating Nonu beggers the imagination.
A four and seven? This is ridiculous at best. How many players did Nonu run over? How much of a real influence did he have? Not much. The All Black attack was well and truly shut down. And as anybody knows, they use Nonu quite extensively to breach and then pour in behind and then through you. Had Nonu dominated Frans, this game would not have been even close. But this comes down to your unrelenting pursuit to glorify Jean. At the very least I am able to credit Jean for working well in not allowing New Zealand to make it past the edge of our midfield - something they had to do as Frans was an immovable wall in his channel. Some perspective goes a long way here.
Actually if you'd only stop reading only your own posts, you'll notice I was quite critical of Jean today. Unlike you, I believe in being objective not just a shill for the players I rate.
And I never said Fransie was dominated by Nonu. Dave said Fransie dominated Nonu, which is so laughable I thought a few objective views might provide "perspective"...as you say. Rugby 365 reporters have always been Fransophiles. So the 4 is quite a reversal.
Personally I think our backline isn't working.....and that can't be down to 13. We are failing to penetrate and offload in the 10/12 channel. Thus far I'm not impressed by Fransie at 12....he provides no crispness.....just a mindless charge into the opposition. Everything Fransie does, including heavy tackling, de Wet Barry did better.
Mozart
I said that the game yesterday was the best test performance by Francois Steyn this year. There was signs of improvement - but he definitely was quite pedestrian and not really top class. I rated his performance at 6 - nothing like being the best backline player on display. Matter of fact the best backline player on either side was Habana.
What makes the comments on this Board so ridiculous is the comments that the reason for malfunctioning of the Springbok backline insofar as attacking play is concerned is De Villiers. That is patently impossible. He gets very, very few balls to play with - yesterday during the whole game he got six balls. He fluffed one pass to Habana - but for the rest there was very little he could do insofar as attacking play is concerned.
Lets look at the backline issue more carefully - starting with the scrummie. Pienaar was severely criticized for playing excatly the same game as Fourie Du Preez did in years gone by. Passing of the ball too many times to forwards and kicking too much. Some of his kicks were under similar circumstances - giving the impression that he played strictly according to instructions given to him. Of his kicking game - he kicked 6 times. Two kicks were really too far for decent follow-up and can be regarded as aimless. Two of them put some pressure on the receivers - but the catchers managed to field them successfully - resulting in a maul situations - one of which ended up in a penalty for the Springboks. Two kicks were defensive in nature and did gain some relieve for the Springboks. Where he did fail insofar as attacking backline play is concerned is the fact that he only passed 18 balls to Morne Steyn - although these passes were accurate and fast enough. His defensive and cover game was good. In essence the main criticism is based on the fact that some members of the Board insist that Hougaard should be the scrummie and they fail to analyse the issue objectively. Hougaard has his own problems insofar as scrummie play is concerned - so that issue is an entirely different one based on pereptions of certain contributors as to what Hougaard would have done yesterday - not actually based on fact. Be it as it may - there are two issues apparent in yesterdays display, namely -
* Pienaar played exactly according to instruction - in other words he was following the so-called game plan very precisely and I think Meyer himself would have been satisifed with his performance and will not replace him irrespetive of the howls of protests from people and reporters; but
* the way Pienaar played was definitely not conducive to attacking backline play- but that could have been planned differently as a means of using forwards to draw in defenders and then to provide quick balls to allow for backline attacks. The latter perception did not work out - on the contrary it gives the opposition chances to line up defenders and slow down the balls in resultant mauls.
In my opinion I believe that Meyer will not change the scrummie and that he himself is satisfied with the way Pienaar played. That is why in my assessment as a scrummie I gave Pienaar 5 out of 10 points for his performance.- the main poblem insofar as attacking backline play is concerned may be directly linked to the so-called game plan - and my main criticism remains that the game plan does not really allow for attacking backline play.
Now lets look at the Morne Steyn issue. Morne received the ball 18 times and unlike the normal perceptions of people - he kicked 6 times. He made two successful relieving kicks gaining some territory for the Boks. Three of the other kicks was diabolical and only one can be regarded as strategically effective. Two of his kicks were so bad that the commentators called them stupid and rubbish He was caught in possession twice and for the rest passed the ball to his inside center. . The passes was after him running a few steps and in essence way behind the game line - leaving the receiver in bad circumstances. Some of the passes can be described as hospital passes. All in all he gave a display that really was not acceptable at all - and definitely not inducive to backline attacking play. Aside from the fact that his goal kicking yesterday was the worst I have ever seen insofaras he is concerned (a 20% success rate) his general play did not allow for successful backline attacking play. The situation changed somewhat after Goosen replaced him - too late in my opinion. Be it as it may the average opinion is that warrant an allocation of 3 to 4 points out of 10 for his general performance - a very generous allocation and for attacking backline play he should get zero points. In essence that means if we ever want attacking backline play Steyn shoulod be replaced. As pivot in the backline insofar as backline attacking play is concerned he failed badly - so we have a serious problem in that respect.
Francois Steyn - as I said previously - had a stronger game yesterday than during other tests he played in. In general he got very poor balls from the flyhalf - but at least he tried to be more attacking. He gained some meters in attacking play - being a very strong runner - but those meters ended up in mauls - Steyn still does fail in some respects insofar as attacking backline play is concerned - and that deficiency is that he does advance over the game line - but has yet to draw in defenders creating space for attacks by his team through effective off-loads in tackle situations. Be it as it may - in general he did try and gain advantage over the game line with very little to show for it - bar successful mauls at the end of his attacks - in other words in essence he still remains a crashball player bringing in very little to effective backline attacking play.
De Villiers got just 6 balls in backline play - but since only one of those could be regarded as proper in space passes that is conducive to attacking play - there was nothing really to show by him in attacking play. Unfortunately he fluffed his pass to Habana - which really was the worst thing he did yesterday. Fot the rest he passed the ball twice to Kirchner - who made a few meters and then died with the ball. The other balls he received did not allow for real attacking backline play. In essence he did not have a good game yesterday from an attacking perspective and did not contribute at all to that phase of the game.
I am leaving out Habana and Hougaard out of this discussion - Habana was brilliant and did more thn his part - whilst Hougaard - when he got the ball did well enough for a pass mark in the test.
Kirchner did come into the backline a number of times - but was very poor in attacking play. His passing game is poor and borders on the non-existent - Habana could have scored a try - but for a very poor pass from Kirchner. Otherwise he did not pass balls after receipt and his attempts all ended up in maul situations - one of which ended up in a penalty to the All blacks for holding onto the ball. Aside from poor defensive play - there is a serious problem insofar as attacking backline play is concerned.
In general - based on yesterdays test - there is a serious problem insofar as attacking backline play is concerned. For that to be achieved we need two deal with a number of requirements, namely -
* the review of the game plan that is played by the Springboks to allow for more aggressive performance by backline players;
* the removal of Morne Steyn as a pivot and his replacement by Goosen - who did show some penetration himself in attacking play and did in general had a better passing game while on the field than Morne did;
* All components of the backline combinations should receive skills training in passing of the balls with special reference to effective off-load of balls in tackle situations.
I doubt very much if Meyer would be prepared to change his game plan and to replace Morne Steyn as flyhalf - but I think I may be wrong and that Meyer's patience with continued poor performances by Morne Steyn is wearing thin - so we may yet be surprised by his squad selections for the remaining tests in the championship.
I believe that JP Pietersen may be back from injury in 14 days time so he will be back. Mvovo would not be selected again and I believe Hougaard will be on the bench. There is a slight chance that Meyer may select Jordaan as back-up player for wing and center - Taute will not be ready since he has yet to get matchfit after a protracted absence from competitive rugby after injury. Engelbrecht's poor display on CC level rules him out of further selection. Lambie will definitely remain in the mix. Pienaar will remain as scrummie - but I believe that Greyling will definitely not be seleced again - of that there is a 100% certainty.
Nice post Mike. The one thing I would say, though, is Jean needs to look for the ball, Conrad Smith got the ball in hand twice as much as Jean yesterday....even though Nonu passed no more than Fransie. Jean is playing 13 stuck out near the wing in all cases. Thirteen can on occasion put himself in a first or second receiver role eg as a blind side alternative. Jean is too passive....Morne doesn't have the instinct or motivation to beat tackles.....and Frans only wants to knock over tacklers. We have to change all that.
Mozart
Excellent onservation - yes I did notice that the Springjboks never spread the backline to both sides when there was a maul ofr scrum in the middle of the field.
Mozart
Excellent onservation - yes I did notice that the Springjboks never spread the backline to both sides when there was a maul ofr scrum in the middle of the field.
