Interesting article on the Morne axing

Pollard’s selection puzzling

• 10 Sep 2014
 
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 498  72Handré Pollard faces the toughest test of his international career

Handré Pollard faces the toughest test of his short international career but his selection is a gamble Heyneke Meyer didn't need to take, writes RYAN VREDE.

Unless Morné Steyn is injured - which was not communicated through the official press release on the team - or so mentally damaged from his match-shaping error last week that he would have been a liability (unlikely for a professional of over a decade) I don't see the sense in his omission from not only the starting lineup but the match 23 entirely. 

Meyer was quoted as saying that Pollard '...has the right skill set for how we want to approach this game'. I'm not sure what that means. At the Bulls, Pollard is required to play a game that prioritises territorial dominance through tactical kicking, which is precisely what the Springboks require against the All Blacks in Wellington this weekend. There's no better flyhalf in the Springboks squad than Steyn to achieve this objective. 

Or perhaps Meyer intends to ask Pollard to run at the Blacks, in which case they will lose by 20-plus points. They just don't have the strike runners to consistently breach the gainline (and earn the right to play expansively), nor the skill in the back division to unhinge the Blacks with the consistency they would need to. Lest we forget, Pollard will also play behind a pack that is yet to impose itself in a meaningful way in the Rugby Championship, and with a scrumhalf in Ruan Pienaar who continues to betray his talent. 

I hope Steyn is carrying some sort of injury - physical or mental - that precludes him from selection. Failing that, I can only conclude that Meyer was swayed by immense public pressure to axe the flyhalf and start a supremely gifted but raw young man in his most crucial position, in their most important Test of the year and against the best side in the world.

It would be deeply disappointing if Meyer has indeed bowed to such pressure. It would also be out of character and evidence that he's starting, for the first time, to feel the strain of the job in a very real way. 

Of course, there is very little downside to picking Pollard. I've written before that I believe him to be the future of Springbok rugby at 10. A good game would vindicate Meyer's decision to start him and elevate his confidence to a stratospheric level. On the flip side, he would recover from a poor one and move on to build a successful Test career.

So the premise of my argument is certainly not that Pollard is a bad call, just that it's a puzzling one in the context of where the Springboks are at in the tournament and in the context of the tactical demands of the next Test. 

All that said, If Pollard is Meyer's man he has to be that going through to the World Cup. He cannot turn to Steyn once more if things go badly this weekend. Pollard must then start the home Tests against Australia and New Zealand, steer the ship on the year-end tour and through 2015 until the tournament in England. If this is the case, Steyn's omission from this weekend's clash would be understandable.  

Image: Barry Aldworth/BackpagePix 

 498  72

 Hard to read with those columns-

Handré Pollard faces the toughest test of his short international career but his selection is a gamble Heyneke Meyer didn't need to take, writes RYAN VREDE.

Unless Morné Steyn is injured - which was not communicated through the official press release on the team - or so mentally damaged from his match-shaping error last week that he would have been a liability (unlikely for a professional of over a decade) I don't see the sense in his omission from not only the starting lineup but the match 23 entirely. 

Meyer was quoted as saying that Pollard '...has the right skill set for how we want to approach this game'. I'm not sure what that means. At the Bulls, Pollard is required to play a game that prioritises territorial dominance through tactical kicking, which is precisely what the Springboks require against the All Blacks in Wellington this weekend. There's no better flyhalf in the Springboks squad than Steyn to achieve this objective. 

Or perhaps Meyer intends to ask Pollard to run at the Blacks, in which case they will lose by 20-plus points. They just don't have the strike runners to consistently breach the gainline (and earn the right to play expansively), nor the skill in the back division to unhinge the Blacks with the consistency they would need to. Lest we forget, Pollard will also play behind a pack that is yet to impose itself in a meaningful way in the Rugby Championship, and with a scrumhalf in Ruan Pienaar who continues to betray his talent. 

I hope Steyn is carrying some sort of injury - physical or mental - that precludes him from selection. Failing that, I can only conclude that Meyer was swayed by immense public pressure to axe the flyhalf and start a supremely gifted but raw young man in his most crucial position, in their most important Test of the year and against the best side in the world.

It would be deeply disappointing if Meyer has indeed bowed to such pressure. It would also be out of character and evidence that he's starting, for the first time, to feel the strain of the job in a very real way. 

Of course, there is very little downside to picking Pollard. I've written before that I believe him to be the future of Springbok rugby at 10. A good game would vindicate Meyer's decision to start him and elevate his confidence to a stratospheric level. On the flip side, he would recover from a poor one and move on to build a successful Test career.

So the premise of my argument is certainly not that Pollard is a bad call, just that it's a puzzling one in the context of where the Springboks are at in the tournament and in the context of the tactical demands of the next Test. 

All that said, If Pollard is Meyer's man he has to be that going through to the World Cup. He cannot turn to Steyn once more if things go badly this weekend. Pollard must then start the home Tests against Australia and New Zealand, steer the ship on the year-end tour and through 2015 until the tournament in England. If this is the case, Steyn's omission from this weekend's clash would be understandable.  

Image: Barry Aldworth/BackpagePix 

Meyer must be starting to feel the pressure with some knee jerk selections.  Last week Pollard was dropped from the starting XV to not even being on the bench against Australia. 
This week is a total reversal, with Morne not even on the bench against the All Blacks. 
Delande had 2 tests starting out of position at 13, and was dropped to the bench. Jan Serfontein now starts his second test match at 13, also out of position.

 Meyer is clueless

 Mozart
After strings of bugger-ups starting with the Eden Park test last year and through the subsequent tests - Meyer must have finally realized that Steyn is no good - just like it took Stade Francais two months to suss him out.   
Last Saturday was by no means the only time Morne missed penalty line kicks - he did it six times from the Eden Park test up to the Aussie test last week  and then had to repeat it again.  
The ESPN profile is correct -  Morne veered from good to poor in one match - problem is he is normally poor 95% of the time.  

 @Ou Maaikie. Unless you really start understanding how the French rotate their players, you will forever carry on with your Stade Francais bench fable. You kept on bleating about Steyn hardly having started a game. The bleating became even louder when Becs jumped in to say that he only started 3 games for SF. The bleating completely died down when the true facts were posted. Hell, she even had you believe that Steyn was officially listed as a utility back. Another fact that could never be substantiated.

If your understanding of the Stade Francais situation is correct then you surely have to start having serious doubts about your idol Goosen. He now, due to Sexton's injury, has the opportunity to cement his place in the Racing Metro team. He did not even last the full first half of his first opportunity before leaving the field with an injury again. Concussion after 31 minutes this time. Imagine how that must have put another dent in his confidence. He has yet to start a game. His début was not even in his normal position. What is more, his team got a real drumming at that hands of Clermont Auvergne last weekend. At the time when he left the field he had one penalty, one missed penalty and one missed drop attempt to his credit. The Clermont kicker, Morgan Parra had, at that time, two penalties and a conversation behind his name and added to the try by Rougerie, Clermont had 13points on the board against Racing metro's 3.

If I were you I would, of course, already have blamed the loss on Goosen's "poor showing" but I have not seen the game. I do know though, that Goosen has, apart from one great drop goal, not really achieved a lot at Racing Metro yet . We shall see.

 How  come the rotation works three for Plisson - one for Morne - ccording to the stats - and only Morne Reuglarly when Plisson is away on national duty.  That is not rotation - it is BS to even say that it is.   
Morne started in 8 games for Stade Francais  from 27 played.   Four of those starting line-ups was when Plisson  away on Nnational duty.    In the 23 games Plisson was in fact avalable Morne started in 4 and Plisson in 19.   That is the fact of the matter - if he was nay good he would have started say 50% f the games - not less than 20%.
Foeitog - poor moron.  You apparentl does not realize that Goosen was brought in to replace Sexton - who has signed a contract to return to ireland.   As long as Sexton is there Goosen will be phased in to take over - he will not be the perennial bench flyhalf of Racing metro - like useless Morne is. 
What an idiot this moron really is!!!!!!!!          

 How  come the rotation works three for Plisson - one for Morne - ccording to the stats - and only Morne Reuglarly when Plisson is away on national duty.  That is not rotation - it is BS to even say that it is.   
Morne started in 8 games for Stade Francais  from 27 played.   Four of those starting line-ups was when Plisson  away on Nnational duty.    In the 23 games Plisson was in fact avalable Morne started in 4 and Plisson in 19.   That is the fact of the matter - if he was nay good he would have started say 50% f the games - not less than 20%.
Foeitog - poor moron.  You apparentl does not realize that Goosen was brought in to replace Sexton - who has signed a contract to return to ireland.   As long as Sexton is there Goosen will be phased in to take over - he will not be the perennial bench flyhalf of Racing metro - like useless Morne is. 
What an idiot this moron really is!!!!!!!!          

Good article - I agree that Meyer could have easily waited for a better situation, especially with the weather forecast. Seems clear at this point that his plan has been to give Pollard opportunity to take the job - just as he did with Lambie and Goosen. 
Would have been interesting to see what would have happened in that first Argie test if the weather hadn't interfered as by all accounts the Boks were looking to throw it around. Felt to me that there had been so much emphasis on that type of game plan in the build-up to the game that when an adjustment was needed mid-game to a more conservative approach we were found ill-prepared and wanting.
I'm a big fan of JDV but I think his leadership was missing in that game and generally so far in the RC. Need a big game from him Saturday. Time to step up. 
Also Meyer is far too concerned with public opinion and explaining his every move to the press/masses. Needs to put the blinders on and quit worrying about what everyone else wants or thinks should happen. Needs to stay true to the vision and what he was building in 2013 when the Boks were playing much better rugby. 

When Jake played all the flavor of the day aspirant Boks and rested his key players in the 2007 TN...he cleared the decks for adult choices in the RWC team. They  clearly were not up to it. I'd have been tempted to get this out of the way earlly this time

We could have played Step, Die Allende, Reinach, Pollard, van der Merwe joke ,  Lomp and whoever Dave's flavour of the day loosie is, in place of Louw. Then after we had lost by 40 points HM would have had a free hand.
Pollard is strong in the head. That's why I like him....not because he is going to change the way we play rugby. The rest you can keep.

 Problem is joke selected a crap bunch of players for he never had his finger on the pulse when it came to the broader squad. He was crap in that department.
If we played de Allende,  Serfontein, Pollard, Hougaard,  v/d Merwe and Lood we would have beaten the AB'S this weekend. Our best side is better than the best the AB'S can come up with other than savea and read

And if we selected JJ we could have beaten the world....small man complex?  

Well for a start JJ has been better at test level than de Jongh, de Villiers at 13, Fourie last year, JP and De Allende so damn right he merited investment after his fantastic game against the AB's. 
Instead the stupid coach is at sea with a 13 no doubt praying for the return of old man fourie.
But no your buddy joke selected useless ado Jacobs at 13 enough said

  

clevermike

Status: Hall Of Fame
Posts: 12766 RE: Interesting article on the Morne axing
September 10, 2014, 19:04:44  How  come the rotation works three for Plisson - one for Morne - ccording to the stats - and only Morne Reuglarly when Plisson is away on national duty.  That is not rotation - it is BS to even say that it is.   
Morne started in 8 games for Stade Francais  from 27 played.   Four of those starting line-ups was when Plisson  away on Nnational duty.    In the 23 games Plisson was in fact avalable Morne started in 4 and Plisson in 19.   That is the fact of the matter - if he was nay good he would have started say 50% f the games - not less than 20%.
Foeitog - poor moron.  You apparentl does not realize that Goosen was brought in to replace [removed]ton - who has signed a contract to return to ireland.   As long as [removed]ton is there Goosen will be phased in to take over - he will not be the perennial bench flyhalf of Racing metro - like useless Morne is. 
What an idiot this moron really is!!!!!!!!           
Yep. There is no hope for you. You are still hunting in the dark. First of all let me remind you again, Steyn only really joined the side full time after the EOYT. Plisson then became the incu-mbent flyhalf for the French National side. In the games after Plisson rejoined the club, Steyn was the starting flyhalf with Plisson on the bench.

These were the games played after Steyn joined the club:

In the first game against Grenoble, immediately after the last EOYT game, Steyn was not used. JP (Jules Plisson) started. That was, coincidently, already in round 14 of the competition, which puts the number of games in perspective. Steyn was not available for all of the 26 rounds (not 27), mamparra. He was only available for 13 rounds. Are you starting to look for cover yet?

The next game was against Perpignon and Steyn was again not yet used. JP started.

Round 16 v Biarritz. MS start. JP Bench.

Round 17 v Castres. MS start. JP bench.

Round 18 v Clermont. MS start. JP not in team. MS not subbed.

Round 19 v Brive. MS start. JP not in team. MS not subbed.

Round 20 v Oyonax. MS start. JP not in team. MS not subbed.

Round 21 v Montpellier. MS start. JP bench. MS not subbed.

Round 22 v Toulouse. JP start. MS bench.

Round 23 v Racing Metro. MS start. JP bench.

Round 24 v Bayonne. JP start. MS bench.

Round 25 v Bordeaux. JP start. MS bench.

Round 26 v Toulon. JP start. MS bench.


When both were available, MS started 4 and JP started 6 games. It has to be remembered that during the 6N, MS played the full 80 minutes in four consecutive Top 14 games. All in all, MS started in 7 of the 13 rounds that he was available for the club.

I don't know where you got your facts. I got mine from the official French rugby union website, Ligue Nationale de Rugby.

Amlin Cup. They both played only one game each.

They each had one game in the the play-offs for a place in the new Champions Cup was

Another interesting fact for you. At the end of round 21, Stade Francais was in fourth place on the Top14 log. After that, MS only started in only one game (round 23). They eventually ended up in 7th place..................

Myth busted.

  Doffies
They were in log position 4 when Morne came in because of the absence of Plisson.   By the time Plisson came back they have slipped a hell of a lot on the log.   Get your facts straight doffies - you are looking bloody silly.

 Nope. You have it wrong.

After Round 21. SF 4th.
Toulon - 60
Clermont - 60
Montpellier - 57
Stade Francais - 56

After round 22 (Check. JP was back from national duty and  starting with MS on the bench. In fact, he was already back for round 21 but he was not played.) SF 5th
Toulon - 64
Clermont - 64
Montpellier - 61
Castres - 60
Stade Francais - 58

After round 26
Stade Francais in 7th.

Playoffs for Europea n Champions Cup.
1st Round. SF lost to Wasps by one point in an away game. Morne played.
2nd Round. SF only needed to win by two points at home. They got a hiding second to none because JP's decision making was atrocious. He tried to run out of their own 22 at every opportunity and they got pinged in their own 22. They lost by 20-6.

I watched that game. The commentators kept on saying that they needed Steyn on to get them out of their own 22 but it didn't happen and Plisson kept on trying to run them out of their 22.

Full time:Stade Français 6 - 20 London Wasps

80 That is that! An awful display from the hosts and a spirited, focused one from the visitors ensures Wasps will be playing with the big boys in next season's Champions Cup. Thanks for joining us!

79 Error count continues to rise as Stade knock-on yet again. (They made one error after the other because they got pinged in their own 22.)

78 Things just petering out here in Paris, a messy final few minutes as Stade wind up with a scrum on their own 22.

77 PENALTY, WASPS, GOODE! 6-20 It's over this time. That will be that, folks.

76 Another Wasps penalty, another yellow card. Van Vuren, just on, is straight back off again. Goode will line up yet another penalty attempt from the ten-metre line.

75 Or not. A really poor kick from Goode, but it shouldn't make any difference to the final outcome.

74 Everything going the way of Wasps now as they rumble right up to the Stade line and win a penalty. Goode will knock this one over and seal the deal.

72 The scrum is reset and reset again before Dupuy pushes Simpson off the ball at the base and is penalised. He mouths off, and concedes a further ten metres. Wasps punt down into the Stade half and will happily take the lineout with less than nine minutes remaining.

69 They're not going anywhere fast, though, time ticking away and Wasps happy to let it do so.

67 Penalty Stade inside their own half, they need two converted tries to win on aggregate.