Fransie....a revelation at flyhalf

This was the trick the Boks missed all along. The player who can slam down a loosie like Honiball, but also step, sling 30 metre passes and kick the ball 70 metres. And somebody who can punish an opposition penalty from beyond halfway.

Comparing a force like Fransie to the fragile Jantjies/ Goosen duo reminds one just how stupid we have been with this player. Because as a youngster he had a few kicks charged and failed to pass a few times, it was decided....indeed the player was persuaded, he was not suitable  at 10.

But he has all the equipment to be a dominant Bok flyhalf. From the moment he scooped the ball off the deck at full tilt the talent was there to see. How stupid are our South African rugby selectors. How incapable of seeing the finished product rather than the raw youth.

Lambie was hardly missed and Steyn thrived with the extra responsibilty, contributing 17 points in the victory via three penalites and four conversions.

The Sharks' dominance was rewarded as early as the eighth minute when Paul Jordaan crossed for the game's opening try, after the groundwork was laid by Willem Alberts and Lwazi Mvovo in the build-up.

Alberts won a crucial turnover at a ruck 15 metres inside the Lions' half and the ball was spread wide to Mvovo, who set off on a blistering run down the touchline.

 When I first saw Jantjies 3 or so years back in his Lions debut I saw some promise. He reminded me a bit of Giteau, small guy who could see the opportunity, throw the flat pass and if he sniffed a gap had a lot of gas. Last night he was nothing of the sort, and did little  more than shuffle the ball between the 9 and 12.

Steyn had a good game considering he was a fill-in at 10. I don't think if I would rush him into the Bok 10 spot (don't know who I would in fact) but great to see he has the adaptability to step in.

Trouble is, the first time Frans makes a mistake, the negative stuff will start. If White wants to try this path he will have to put up with a lot of ignorance. But here's the truth....Lambie will never be anything more than a sensible player at 10. He doesn't have the speed or strength to do anything against modern 10 channel defence. Hell he is a small slow chap, saved by having a good rugby brain.

Trying Fransie may fail....but then again, it might also give us a real force at flyhalf.

 Mike, just admit it bro..You will never like Frans and will always find a problem. Remember my words pre-season..I said best you get over your prejudice against Frans and Alberts because they are going to prove you wrong all year and land you with egg on your face.

So far, I have not been wrong.

Fransie just needs to get "less excited" about that long bullet pass of his and use his backs. He loves to "show off" his long ball but in Durban at this time of year, you do that often to your detriment as we saw a few balls from him find grass and you are right, that can be extremely dangerous in terms of counter attack but all in all, Fransie had a pretty good game for a man who has not seen a 10 jersey in years.

He is worth perservering with at 10 to see just what he can do with game time there but we need him more as a 12 and Lambie seems a more natural 10 at the moment.

Surely we can not fuck Lambie over again? Would be unfair to drop him as we were comfortably 2 from 2 with him there.

 Let me present the facts again. Goosen had the ball on the Reds 10 metre .....three Reds players were in the picture, one to his left and to the left of Willie, was even with him. Two cross defenders were way to his right and deeper. In front of him nothing.....nada...niks. He runs about 15 m and still with no player near him, he slows and passes back to Willie. In short he bottles out. Hard to believe I agree, I had to replay it a few times before I could accept it.....hell he never even tried to commit a defender.

Durban - Sharks director of rugby Jake White has hailed the performance of Frans Steyn following the Sharks' 37-23 victory over the Lions on Saturday, saying his showing at Kings Park was also an eye-opener for the Springbok selectors.

As it happened: Sharks v Lions

The versatile back, shifted from centre to flyhalf a few hours before the game after Patrick Lambie was taken ill, turned in a match-winning display capped by 17 points, including two penalties from inside his own half.

"I think he was fantastic," White said afterwards.

"He got told just before kick-off he's going to be at 10 and again he just showed how good he is.

"I've got confidence in him and it's amazing, he just slotted in, did what he had to do and it wasn't just his kicking, it was the way he played the whole game." (Boom, goes the theory that the only thing he did well was the kicking. Read and learn, drol)

Steyn was also crucial on defence and his boss felt it was coming together at the right time as the 26-year-old seeks a return to the national team, 18 months since he last featured in the green and gold.

"It's the third game in a row he's played 80 minutes and obviously that's very pleasing not only for myself, but I'm sure it's pleasing for the South African selectors as well," White said.

Lambie, meanwhile, fell ill on Friday night and White said there was no point risking him for the game.

"At this point in time we're not sure what it is," the Sharks boss explained.

"He got sick overnight when he developed swollen glands.

"We're not sure whether it's an outbreak of flu or something, so we weren't going to risk him and decided we were going to keep him in bed today."

They still coped well against a plucky Lions side, scoring four tries through Paul Jordaan, Cobus Reinach, Odwa Ndungane and Bismarck du Plessis, who scored on the final hooter, to move top of the table.

The visitors did manage two late tries to reduce the gap to seven with just over 10 minutes to play and White admitted the comeback was partly due to his early substitutions, although it was something he thought he could learn from. (...and there, DomdrolMike, is the reason why the Lions came back later in the game)

"I probably jumped the gun a bit with all the substitutions," he added. Jake White is taking the blame for that himself. He has never been one to shy away when he has made a  balls-up. Remember when he took all the blame for the 49-0 fiasko against Australia.

"At 30-9, I think as a coach if you don't have the confidence that you could put guys on then when will you have it?

"Not taking anything away from those that did come on, I think we probably just disrupted the whole rhythm of what we had and then we let them in.

"Once they smelt that, we were pushed backwards and had to defend."

Lions boss Johan Ackermann praised his players for their ability to fight back.

However, he admitted that their poor first half ultimately cost them.

"It would have been nice to take a point out of it, but it wasn't meant to be and that was probably because we didn't play well enough in the first half," he said.

"I'm very proud of the way we came back, the guts and character we showed was great, especially from the forwards."