Morne Steyn - Hougaard - Kirchner

The above three players were told to improove their games in the remainder of the Super 15 games by Meyer - otherwise they may end up being out of the Springbok team.   Lets look at how they performed and see what they did in the game against a very poor combination of the Cheetahs.

Steyn did nothing brilliant on attack - but his defence was sound and so was his kicking game - both at the poles and strategically.    I would say that all in all he upped his game considerably if taken into account his performances in previous Super 15 games this year.    However, he played in an environment of Lofuts Versfeld at home and he got a wonderful service from the Bulls forwards.    Not too much pressure on him at all - so to my mind he deserves a point allocation of 7 out of 10.   In essence he passed the test put down by Meyer.   

Hougaard's service was more effective and faster yesterday and I would place him at 7 out of 10 - no problems behind a foward pack that gave him many opportunities.  His one negative was that he still got a kick charged down - his main problem in the test arena against the Lions.   Next week may be a sterner test - so he could yet slip up.

Kirchner was the one player that impressed me on return from injury and he was more obvious in attacking play - but he is the one player that should have helped against those short kicks over the Bull's backline that led to two Cheetah tries.    Cannot help - but give him 6 out of 10 for his overall performance.  

The one player I did not mention in the heading was Spies.   He was good in scoring that one try - but not very prominent in the remainder of the game - so 5 out of 10 would be the allocation in this case.

Comments - please.

11 people looked at this assessment and nobody reponded to it - do I take it they agree with what I wrote?

 Good analysis. Great to see some signs of improvement from Morne, but don't trust it yet. I have a bad feeling Hougaard and his chardge down kicks will get exposed - still think Pienaar needs to start with Hougaard off the bench. 

As you say, this was only the Cheetahs, so tough to take too much from it - maybe get a better idea next week against the Sharks.

oimatey

The players mentioned was given three weeks to show improvement and even more if the Bulls get into the play-off stage in Super 15.   Hope they do - but that is the stage that would really count in determination performances.    The Cheetahs yesterday put up their poorest performance for the year and as they say - one swallow does not make the summer.

I will look at the four again after next week and carry the ratings given forward to the next week.   At the end of Super 15 we should have a really clear picture of the situation.

I often wonder what Spies does in between the few times we see him every game. This lad is the least impressive Bok regular of all.

 CM - sounds good. Sharks / Bulls game should be a cracker

Moz - Spies needs a wake-up call. Still think he has the raw talent, but he's taken too much of a "professional" approach. 

Mozart

I adjusted the figures slightly based on comments received.   Yes Spies vanishes from sight 80% of the games he played in - and he did so also on Saturday,   A Wake up call for him after all the years he played would not help at this stage of his career.   He started off as a wing - but was moved to number 8 by the Bulls.   Did he ever change when that happened?   I for one believes that in the process he never really adjusted to play as a forward and cannot see him as a future Springbok selection as no 8.

Nice article clevermike. Will be interesting to see how these players progress in the last couple of games. Agree 100% with your ratings.

@clever

"The above three players were told to improove their games in the remainder of the Super 15 games by Meyer"

Where did you hear that? Is it fact or an assumption?

Just asking,

Flash

It was a deduction I made from various statements made by Meyer during the past three weeks.    Maybe I am wrong in putting it so bluntly - but I think there was some serious talk about it by Meyer.   Anyway - I will continue to rate them in Super 15 and see what happens afterwards.

Just to make sure that this item is available tomottow evening - I posted this one.

Morne Steyn  played like a Palooka - his passing game was atrocious.   He tried to be a link player with the backline - but failed badly.     His kicking game was reasonable and on defence he also made one crucial tackle.    On the whole he had only two kicks at goal and was successful with both.   On the whole it was not possible to give him 4 points out of 10 - just not good enough.   For the two games in Super 15 on average he is 5.5.   Is that good enough????

Hougaard looked good on attack and for the rest his defence and passing game was not acceptable at all.   He did not look good under pressure and I was not surprised at him being replaced.  That means that he could get to 5 points on his performance today -   with an average of 6 for the two games in question.

Kirchner looked good on attack - but he knocked on one high ball - his positional play was also good and his kicking up to standard.   However his defence was desperately poor   His poor defence contributed to the fact that he should have prevented at least two tries tody.    He would on todays game qualify for  4  points out of 10, leaving him with an average of 5 points out of 10.

Spies - was he actually playing today?   He hauled in Whitehead at one stage - but for the other 79 minutes he was invicible and completely outplayed by Kankowski.   Best i could give him is 3 out of 10.   His average score for the two games played is therefore 4.5 out of 10.

I would say that Hougaard remains around 6 - which could be regarded as acceptable.   However, Morne Steyn, Kirchner and Spies failed to impress and should not be considered for the Springboks in future.

Back to the top with you - we do not want to lose this one before next week.