Ex Sport 24
Under fire and very criticized Springbok pivot Morné Steyn has been dropped from the coming weekend’s Springbok squad to face the Wallabies at Loftus. After a lengthy run, non-stop if I may add, the man can finally get some of the pressure lifted from his shoulders. Love him or hate him, the man is a great servant to SA Rugby.
A dip in form is expected from any player if not all… He normally played second fiddle to “Liefling” Derick Hougaard at the Bulls, but since the latter’s departure, Steyn took over the reigns and did so brilliantly.
The success he enjoyed with the Bulls was finally rewarded in 2009 against the British & Irish Lions’ Tour Of SA. He came on in the second test played at Loftus and kicked the infamous 53m penalty which gave the Boks a 28-25 victory. On the 1st of August 2009, Steyn had a game which many can only dream of! The Boks beat the All-Blacks 31-19 in a great test match of which Steyn scored all 31 of the Boks’ points (incl 8 pen and converted his own try).
Since he took over as the no.1 choice fly-half (both for the Bulls and the Boks), the records started to scatter in front of him: ?
World record for most points scored by a player who has scored all their team’s points (31).
Most points scored against New Zealand (31) in a single test
South African record for penalties in a test (8) – beating the seven achieved twice by former fullback, Percy Montgomery.
All of the above records achieved with his 31 points scored in the Tri-Nations 2009 match against the All Blacks in Durban on 1 Aug 09
South African record for most points in a test against Australia. Fastest 100 points by a Springbok (8 Test matches, 3 as replacement)
Fastest 200 points by a Springbok (16 Test matches)
Fastest 300 points by a Springbok (24 Test matches)
Fastest 400 points by a Springbok (33 Test matches)
Most drop-goals in a Super Rugby season (11).
Most points scored against the All Blacks for a Springbok (31).
Most points in a Tri-Nations match (31). Most drop goals in a Super Rugby game (4) (in the 2009 Super 14 semi-final against the Crusaders)
Most drop goals in Super Rugby (22)
Most drop goals in a Super Rugby season (11 in 2009)
Most penalties in a Super Rugby season (51 in 2010)
Most points in a Super Rugby season (263) – Beating Dan Carter’s record of 221 set in 2006.
Most points by a Bulls player in Super Rugby history (1,201) ?Most points by a South African and first South African to reach 1,000 points in Super Rugby (1,201)
Steyn also holds the record for most consecutive successful kicks at goal in Test play since statistics for that category were first kept in the late 1980s. He had a streak of 41 successful attempts that ended on 6 November 2010 against Ireland. The previous record was 36, held by Chris Paterson of Scotland.
Unfortunately we as the rugby public tend to forget all great things in the face of non-performance (Please not SNAPSTER AND COHORTS)!
Every player goes through a dip in form in his career, so rather for us to ridicule the man, rather support him (AS MEYER HAS DONE TO HIS CREDIT). I am the first to admit he is going through a bad spell and that he seriously needs to get his confidence and hence form back. Looking at everything he has accomplished, it’s not really fair to refer to him as a”loser’, “tosser’, “idiot” etc (FULLY AGREE - THIS VILIFFICATION AS BEEN A REFLECTION OF THOSE DOING IT REALLY)
We as rugby fans obviously want our teams to win, myself included, but I wish we could support our out of form players. If Goosen, Jantjies etc is to be injured we will need these guys back and in good shape. Public support helps morale quite a lot!
But all this said, I am very excited to see what Goosen can bring from the get-go! He is a hot prospect and will almost certainly put pressure on Steyn for the coveted no 10 jumper! All the more reason for Steyn to rest, get his head clean, play some Currie Cup and regain form. I think the majority of rugby fans will agree with me on this…(hopefully)…
Cant promise ou snapster will mend his sad ways on this one!!!
