Rugby 24.....Morne sparks a recovery

'However, veteran Springbok Morne Steyn, who left Stade Francais this week to return to South Africa, sparked a late comeback.

Mapimpi added a second, dotting down in the left-hand corner after a quick passing movement with both fellow World Cup winner Lukhanyo Am and the evergreen Steyn involved - Steyn converted for 33-24.

Steyn, top points-scorer at the 2011 World Cup, added a try of his own with just over a minute remaining, rounding off a stunning move.

He added the conversion but it came just too late to pull off a miraculous victory.'

........

What a pro!

He was good - but not spotless in a game where the Fijian team was weakened by the absence of club players in the European Champions Cup.   The Fijians actually outplayed the Barbarians up to about 10 minutes from the end.  

Morne did miss a tackle on the Fijian 7 before the latter scored a try and had two mishaps in out-of-hand kicking - but did score the one Barbarian try and converted the last two kicks at goal after Barbarian tries.             

I'll review this myself. You are very seldom correct Freifrau, in fact, I can't even recall the truth accidentally escaping your lips. 

I remember Lambie's game against the Barbarians. That wasn't so good, but the worship was through the roof . I think it's only fair that we praise Morné.

...only five Fijians from the RWC...10 Fijian players on debut...bodes well for Fijian rugby of they can just throw a squad together and beat a world class team...even if it was filled with SA geriatrics

Clearly they brought Steyn on too late.

Morne would have done a lot better than Ford. If Stephanie tried those mad Bool charges, a pro like  Morne would  have dropped deeper, for a bit more time....and stepped him a few times.

Hahahaha.....little old Ford looked like a deer in the headlights. The mistake that will haunt Eddie just like Mo'ung a will haunt Hansen. Two horrible selection decisions that rest with the head coaches. 

Another happy idiot on site!!!   This one blaming only Ford and Mo'unga for the English and AB losses,    O yes -  there was the Mozart best center in the world - Slade - that Jones could have used against the Springboks - moving Farrell to flyhalf - so lets think what actually happened after the change was made?   Where was  the centers in the case of the Mapimpi try?  We had the Kolbe try also  - where Slade dropped the ball and Farrell missed a routine tackle on the physically much smaller Kolbe.   So the Mozart idea blaming Ford is a great one!!!!!!

Farrell at flyhalf in the 30 minutes he played in that position was NO better than Ford at all  and 14 of the Springboks points were scored after the change was made.   Was Farrell not the guy whose kick-in after the Pollard missed drop goal - not out on the full in the final minutes of the game?   Another flaw you missed stooge?     

.     

Dave

Remember we have idiots on site,   Morne sparks a recovery?   He came on late in the ame when the Fiji "B" team ran out of gas and the try he scored was merely when he got the ball following up play and had an open tryline to fall over.    He was run over by the Fiji 7 scoring the last Fiji try.   Morne's performance was better than that of Bosch - but when the Fiji backline was running with the ball Morne would have been a disaster in defense  as per normal in view of the deficiency he always had.    

One wonder why Stade Francais tried to get rid of him repeatedly.   In 2014 it was an open secret that they tried to flog him off to other rugby clubs - it was all over the media.   They were  unsuccessful and kept using him afterwards as their bench flyhalf.  He did survive the initial chop when the new German owner took over in 2016 - and then signed a contract with Brive in 2017 - but lucky for them Meyer took over as the Stade Francais coach and the Brive contract was cancelled.  

We all now what happened to Meyer at Stade Francais - Morne was even kicked out even before Meyer was.   

Mozart

Morne's pin point kicking - when did that happen?  His out of hand kicking was never strategic and mostly aimless an poorly directed - one of his worst weaknesses,

Another thing  standing deeper in the pocket - like Morne routinely did - have a seriously negative impact on backline play.  

Was Farrell on the day any better than Ford - no evidence he was.   He was rattled about what happened and his game was way below what was expected from him.   

On the whole though I am not sure whether a center pairing involving Slade would have been any  better,   However, I agree with Dave - Morne was too disappointing for years now that comparing him with Ford is really unfair. 

What backline game.....Allende had 12 runs and beat 1 tackle. Pure unadulterated crash ball. All our backline moves came from turnover ball.

Ford does not play it like Jantjies, he is far more measured. His flaw is his size, he is an easy target.

Morne is not talented enough to make a change, the guy has limited natural talent. All he offered was a boot  both out of hand and at goal.

He has nothing to offer with ball in hand and has no creativity to ignite those outside him.

Worst of all is he is shit scared of contact especially in defence - on par with Naas

Morne is my worst Bok 10 of all time 

We played awful rugby with him as our pivot - we had zero hope with him calling the shots 

Rubbish Dave.....who was the pivot against the ABs in 2013. Morne sprung the Boks for 2 long range tries with perfectly weighted long range passes on the run. He was our best conventional passer at 10 since re-admission. Another brilliant pass beat the Bargies when he subbed on in 2014 I believe.

Morne had a decent pass, especially passing from left to the right side. However, he needs front-foot possession where the forwards create acres of space. 

He would struggle with the present-day rush defences at test level. No doubt he would crap himself. 

In Barbarians game, Morne credited with giving more structure....then a pin point kick Mapimpi should have gathered. 

'Morne Steyn has made a difference...he has created space'

Then a superb 50m touch clearance kept in play by an outrageous Fiji dive.

A missed tackle for a try, after covering two Fijians, rather blotted Morne's copy book.

Then Morne orchestrates some quick passing for the Mapimpi try in the corner and kicks the damn thing right through the middle.

And finally the piece de resistance....he launches a move and  a superb Esterhozen offload breaks it open for Morne to swerve in for a try, superbly converted by him.

What a distributor, what a kicker!

Nice stuff at the end of that game....wonderful Beast exit with a great  cover tackle. One got a sense of the world rugby community enjoying each other's company....what a great sport!

Shezza he is an older bloke. I don't think he is a starter, but he is a credible bench option. Has there ever been a smoother kicker to the poles? Nice seeing him in action again in these twilight days.

With Morné the Bulls averaged 1 try to 1 linebreak. His 2010 season was one of the best attacking seasons in super rugby history. He did that without Du Preez. He was so good that Olivier was for three seasons the statistically the best 12 in super rugby. We can all say in hindsight that though he was a good player, he was by no means the best 12 in SH on his own ability alone. Then there was Kirchner. Often ridiculed, he led the league in assists for two seasons and was consistently at the top of that category for several years. Morné knew when to attack, and he knew how to control the game. Under Peter the Boks were structurally a very inept side on attack. Even in 2009 when the Boks were quite formidable. Too much was laid on his shoulders. He was to blame for everything, and so much of what he did well was ignored. It irks me when a player is misrepresented, especially for someone who is all reputation and no production. Does Morné still have it now? I don't know. I still haven't seen the Barbarian game, but of he can play the game cerebrally, he can still be a force. At least a stopgap until the Bulls find a long term solution. They certainly wouldn't want another Fouche moment. That was painful. 

Bosch....you can't be serious. But I'm guessing if the commentators are saying Steyn made a difference implies he did things better than Bosch in their view....in my view also.

With his finch-like physique Bosch will never survive at test10. He has to play 15 if he has the grit to get up there for the high ball. If he does that his boot, pace and hands could be an asset. But that's a big ask.

Dave only you can think a chap who has been a huge flop as a pro so far,  is far better than a guy who has won a TN and a Lions series.....and is still playing the game at 35, proof of his value over many years.

Mozart

Morne did well in 2009 - but for some reason or other his game fell apart after that.  and from 2012 even Meyer realized he was not up to standard,   He dropped him from the Springbok team in 2012 and used him in 2013.   Morne fell apart totally in 2014 and Meyer never used him as a starting flyhalf again.  He became the bench flyhalf of Stade Francais with an iffy record at flyhalf,  In the end he failed as a flyhalf.    

I saw many games in which Bosch played.   He was very good in his first Under 20WC - in the second one he was anything but good.   Playing for Sharks at flyhalf he seems to have a decision-making problem and they more frequently used him at full back than at flyhalf.  Be it as it may I do not think he is a test level player - irrespective whether he lay at flyhalf or full back.   He was not a star on Saturday either,  

So like in the case of Morne he as a failure-in-waiting and I do not think he would play test rugby in future,