For those who doubt Frans could play Bok 10....

....ask yourself who the last RWC winning Bok 10 was. That's right....the Butcher. Compa re for a moment Frans with the Butcher:

1) Frans is likely to stay on the park the whole game, not get a yellow.

2) Frans has much better tackling technique, while being just as feasome. This is a rich vein to mine. With a bit of coaching to get his timing right at 10, Fransie could be making massive hits in 10 channel....even on loosies as we saw yesterday. Combine that with a good fetcher and we have a source of turnover ball.

3) Nobody in the game kicks it further and as we saw a few weeks back, Fransie has learned to get the ball away faster and eat the pill if a charge down is in the offing.

4) We dont have a better offloader in the tackle in the backline ranks. Set Fransie up to do this, and run players off him and you have a real tool for getting over the game line.

5) The nonsense that this guy can't pass will also disappear as he gets more time at 10.

So I would give him an extended stretch at 10.....he clearly relishes it and has the physical credentials. The software needs to be refined and patterns need to be evolved to take advantage of his unique strengths. But the alternatives, Morne, Lambie, Goosen and Boshoff all have limitations. Why not go back to the power flyhalf like Butch or Lem.....it worked in the past and Steyn is a much more skilled player than those chaps.

How much athleticism did Butch or Honibal have? I'm not expecting Frans  to gas Aaron Cruden, I'm expecting him to run through him. But speaking about atleticism, how about his sprint to collect a dangerous through ball a few minutes from time, with the strength to hold on with two Bulls trying to dispossess him. 

What of course is lost in all this mumbo jumbo is Fransie was the MOM in the game he started at 10. How much more could he achieve if he got a Lambie run of 10 or more games at 10.

This is the lack of imagination that has always dogged our rugby.

" Steyn is playing as well as he has ever played. I’d say he is playing the best rugby of his career because of the maturity in his game.

Wow, he is on fire.

He is taking ownership of everything he does. He is a leader in this team and a veteran in his approach. Steyn won a World Cup as a 20-year-old and even though he is still only 26 he is showing the maturity and attitude of one much older in playing years.

It’s a joy to watch him play. His passion is what you expect of an X-factor player, but not always what one gets from such gifted players.

He so nearly won the match for the Sharks with a late drop goal and it isn’t often that the Man of the Match award goes to a player on the losing side.

Steyn and Matfield were not in Meyer’s Bok squad last November. Both, if they are not injured, will be in the Bok squad in June. It makes for a more potent Bok unit having two players of such pedigree available and in form.

Steyn was a class apart among the backs on display at Loftus and those with an appreciation for the nuances of the game will know the exact value of Matfield’s contribution."

Ah the return of the Bald Eagle. Well the thing is, I could change my mind on Fransie....but you will still be bald. You have to admire all these baldies, who make a virtue out of necessity....hahahaha.