Francois Steyn - statement by Plumtree

Kindly refer to the statement made by Plumtree as quoted by Sasue and Mozart elsewhere.

I think that Plumtree's statement went to the root of the backline problems ofthe Sharks and we can now safely stop debating the issue from the perspective of Steyn only.  

Where I do agree with Saffex and Beeno is that there is obvious problems  in the Sharks forwards as well.   I would say the problems are as follows:-

*    The playing of Burden as hooker - he is not fit to play on Super 15 level;

*     The lock situation; and

*     the usage of the loosies.

The Hooker

The absence of Bismark is a serious problem for the Sharks.  The hooker himself must provide stability to scrums and must assist the props in their work.   A poor hooker affects the stability of the scrum and must add to the performance thereof.    Burden does not fulfil that role and I think th Sharks scrummaging problem stems from his usage as a hooker.   The Sharks will have to find another hooker that could fill in until Bismarck gets back.

The Locks 

I have never been an admirer of Van der Merwe as a lock - but recent games showed that he is in fact better than Bresler = whose performances has been sub-par.   The obvious solution would be to bring in Du Toit in as a lock - but then that may be affected by the problem the Sharks have through the absence of Alberts.  

It may be necessary to use as a temporary measure Du Toit as a number 7.   In that case I would put Bresler on the bench and start with one of the Marais brothers as a lock.  That would to my mind solve the immediate problems of the Sharks at lock  with the understanding that once Alberts returns - Du Toit would fit in as a lock forward.

Loosies

I have always maintained that the Sharks cannot play  Kankowski and Daniel together as loosies.  I always felt that one of them could be in the starting line up and one on the bench.   

I frankly cannot see how the Sharks can play both as loosies togrther in th starting line-up..   I would not dispte any suggestions that Coetzee should be moved to 8 - but at this stage I would think that until Alberts return the Sharks should play Du Toit at 7 and Coetzee a 6 , with Daniel in the no 8 jersey.

People may differ from me  -  but lets forget about the serious shouting and screaming of the past and get some real reasoned comments on this one. 

Well for a start Mike, did you not notice how good Kyle Cooper was when he replaced Burden in the second half. I was impressed with this lad last year and he was a massive improvement on Burden on Sat. 

 

I think Cooper was a Baby Bok with Etzebeth, but I might be wrong. At 109kg, he brings physicality to the role.

 

You are wrong about Bresler, he has not started the year well, but was huge for the Sharks last year, so much so that I thought he should have made the EOYT Bok squad. Franco v/d Merwe is a liability, he adds nothing to the Sharks equation. The Sharks have good depth at lock. Steph du Toit is the stand out, but I also rate the two physical Marais brothers. Both are far better than Franco.

 

The Sharks loose trio lacks a bruiser - no way in hell should Kankan and Daniel play together without a bruiser at 7. Given Alberts and Deysel are injured, Steph du Toit needs to fill in here until one of them returns, whereafter he can return to start at lock where he belongs.

 

Until Bismark, Alberts and Deysel return, the Sharks pack should be: 

 

1. Beast 2. Cooper 3. Jannie 4. Bresler 5. JA Marais 6. Daniel 7. Steph du Toit 8. Coetzee - with Herbst, Burden, Peet Marais and Kankan on the bench.

 

Saffex

I can live with the forwards suggested by you.  By the way I think by June Du Toit would have shown enough to be on the Springbok bench to replace Bekker as lock from the bench and ultimately to play their himself in the longer term.  Holding thumbs for that to happen. 

IWhy did Steyn not come off his injury at fighting weight??? Is he not motivated to be a Springbok? Is his mentality that he will simply just walk into the Bok team? Is this not our collective South African rugby mentality, that we will simply "walk it"? It is shocking that a pro player can come back at 118kg and then use the season to come back to fighting weight. Very unprofessional of both him AND Plumtree. They are accountable to also their fans. 

 Check the All Black mentality at SA Rugby Mag:  "Blues utility back Rene Ranger, said to be off to France after Super Rugby, won't go if he can force his way into the All Blacks. Ranger took it upon himself to call All Blacks coach Steve Hansen and asked him what he needed to do to be picked for the All Blacks. Hansen told him to put in big performances every weekend; not just occasionally. 'It's not about the All Blacks saving Rene Ranger,' said Hansen. 'He has to decide he wants to be an All Black, then play so well we can't leave him out. It's about Rene putting together consistent performances. 'Rene rang me and asked what he has to do to make the All Blacks and he got the same answer I'm telling you. You have to have a high-intensity game and be able to do it consistently week in week out with a very low error rate.'

APO

A real warm welcome to the Board.   I assume you are from New Zealand and you may find some really nasty characters around - but keep on - at last mot of the contributors are really tryng to be objective.

I think the real problem was not coming off his injury at a fighting weight.   He was not at a "fighting weight" when he came back from France in May 2012.   I always thought - and so did many others - that Steyn last year was fat and slow.   His performances last year was criticized by many observers as inadequate - so the latest revelations about his playin is in fact nothing new.

There are two issues here that you mentioned, namely -

*   physical condition; and

*   attitude.

From the previous and latest statement by Plumtree - it is evident that they are trying to get Steyn back to physical competitiveness.   However, the second issue is important and more difficult to address.   I think that Steyn had an attitude of "I am so good - I cannot speak too highly of myself".   That does not make it possible for anybody to get the urgency to proof that he is really deserving selection - since he thinks there is nothing to proof.  

I think Ranger did very well thus far this year - and he may have a good chance to be selected by Hansen if he keeps it up.  Conrad Smith still is not showing signs of slowing down though - but his defence remains what it always was - rather suspect at times.