Kirchner irritated by social media criticism & name calling- Judge me on my game -

Zane Kirchner may give the impression of a cool customer who doesn’t let much faze him, but it is clear the constant baiting from fans has affected him a little bit.

Kirchner has been irritated by the constant criticism on social media networks about his play, the derogatory name-calling and those who simply have written him off because he was selected for Saturday’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship in Brisbane against Australia.

So much so that he showed a glimpse of irritation when asked about it after being selected at 15 for Saturday’s test.

“Everyone seems to have a perception of me coming back into the side and kicking every ball, but the way we play you have to play what is in front of you. You need to execute that towards your goal,” Kirchner said.

But when pressed on the issue the Bok fullback stopped, composed himself and then fired back.

“Everyone has an opinion on me right now but it needs to come down to the right thing. Judge me on what is done and not what is said by individuals,” Kirchner said.

“I don’t want to be rude to the public because we as a team always appreciate their support, but it is always good to know what the coaches think…”

And while the social media world exploded after he was selected, few actually took the time to analyse the thinking behind his return. With Bjorn Basson injured, and also out of form, the Boks were forced into a change anyway.

Willie le Roux returned to the wing where he made his mark in Super Rugby and the obvious candidate for fullback was Kirchner.

And while many may look at his performances in the past and judge him on that, Kirchner and Le Roux will swop roles during the game with the winger being given license to roam.

Kirchner admitted as much when he was asked about slotting in with Le Roux in the backline.

“Willie is a bit unpredictable, in knowing what he is going to do, but then again knowing there is a fullback next to me makes my work a little bit easier in terms of when to do the counter attack. With Willie and the type of game he is playing, he can slot in any position and could be there during the game.

"For me it isn’t where he plays, but the fact that I can slot in off him and run off the plays he creates and the other way around. I think that is how we are going to try and run the whole show.”

Kirchner of course, didn’t play in the previous tests this year because of a hand injury, and has struggled to return.

He has no qualms about that, and believes coach Heyneke Meyer made the right decisions in the June internationals

“It was tough getting back into the side with the way the guys have been performing. But it is now all about stepping up and proving again that you are worth coming into the team,” he explains.

“For me it was quite unfortunate breaking my finger. I didn’t have a lot of game time and it was justifiable for Heyneke to pick the guys in form. Now I’m getting another chance, and it is an opportunity for a second chance, to breathe life into my Bok career again.”

Kirchner may have been punted by Meyer as a player who helps the backline score tries, but he isn’t even thinking about crossing the whitewash on Saturday.

“I don’t see myself scoring tries,” he says, “I see myself putting guys away. Try-scoring is not as important as the guy that makes the last pass. That’s where I want to be.”

Of course if Kirchner does feed off Le Roux and create some magic, it will go a long way to changing perceptions.

Imagine being a professional rugby player and having to take the slander on social media sites and blogs- from the likes of Rooinek, aka Rooipoes, Rooicock 

One has to wonder how much of the anti levelled at a player affects them. Kirchner has been told that the percetion the public have of him is that he just kicks all day..........will that result in him challenging the instructions given to him by the coach to play the aerial game?

Lets face it, the majority of those kicks go wasted, so the chances of him having a less than convincing game is high.........he might be better placed listening to the public and ditch his clueless coaches gameplan.......that is my suggestion to Kirchner

Firstly Zane, we ARE judging you on your game. What a silly statement to make. We have seen enough of "your game" to know that we are desperately in need of a fullback. It is nothing personal (from most people) but those who love and support the Boks can see you are a massive disappointment at 15 and add absolutely nothing on defence or attack.

This weekend I hope he goes well simply because he plays for the Boks and we need them all to go well to win these games. I do believe that we should still be looking past him. A guy like Aplon is much better on the counter attack but unfortunately a little on the small side.

A fullback does not have to be huge but decent size does not hurt. Look at Dagg as a model. Nothing wrong with his size and if there was, he more than makes up for it in skill and ability to beat defenders and break tackles anyway. Kirchener is a bit thin, he talks about counter attacking when its on but I dont know whether I would be more scared of him actually trying to run it up as opposed to kicking. Lets face it, to date he has not shown any great intent with ball in hand. If he tries to change that now due to public pressures and play a game that is not natural to him, I think we could be in more kak than good!

All we really need him to do this weekend is be solid under any high balls that come his way and plug the corners with the return. Dont kick on to Folau because thats asking for shit because he is not likely to kick it back too often. Maybe Willie at 15 this game would have been an option because he has a nice little chip and chase game. Folau is not hugely experienced as a union fullback and even less at international level so I reckon we could catch him standing deep often. He would have heard that SA just kick the ball so he will no doubt stand a few metres back. Aussies talk about running us off our feet. I reckon with a bit of smarts, we can surprise them! Unfortunately, I dont think Kirchener is an x factor player so we might just have to stick to the norm and hope for the best and SA management coach a game that is all too structured and boring and do not embrace player talent. Any "smarts" a player has is quickly coached out of them the min they link up with the Boks.

What is funny though is that it is that same talent that got the selectors attention, then they are taken, operated on and pre programmed.. We have seen it time and time again and you have to only look at Lambie to see what I mean!

First game Heyneke actually let the guys express themselves, we thrashed the Wallabies. Ok so it was not the greatest Wallabies team due to various reasons and injuries but there was still 15 good players on that field and they were blown away in all facets of that game!

Come on Kirchener, prove us all wrong! Boks by 6!

 Heres a solution for all the cyber rage , if you have something nasty stuck in your throat that you simply must expel just aim it at Beentween Braino ,sort of the internet version of a spittoon ! He is quite oblivious to everything anyway and being a public spirited sort of fellow would be glad to provide such a service I'm sure !

Problem solved !

 Oops ! I see you fellers already do that !