Sharks side named

The Cell C Sharks

15. SP Marais (Marshall Security Crusaders)
14. Odwa Ndungane (Varsity College RFC)
13. Paul Jordaan (Varsity College RFC)
12. Frans Steyn (SA Home Loans Durban Collegians)
11. Lwazi Mvovo (Ricoh PMB Collegians)
10. Patrick Lambie (Jonsson College Rovers)
9. Cobus Reinach (SA Home Loans Durban Collegians)
8. Ryan Kankowski (Amanzimtoti Rugby Club)
7. Willem Alberts (SA Home Loans Durban Collegians)
6. Marcell Coetzee (SA Home Loans Durban Collegians)
5. Pieter-Steph du Toit (Jonsson College Rovers)
4. Anton Bresler (Jonsson College Rovers)
3. Jannie du Plessis (Marshall Security Crusaders)
2. Bismarck du Plessis (Captain) (Marshall Security Crusaders)
1. Tendai Mtawarira (Jonsson College Rovers)

Replacements
16. Kyle Cooper (Jonsson College Rovers)
17. Dale Chadwick (Ricoh PMB Collegians)
18. Lourens Adriaanse (Amanzimtoti Rugby Club)
19. Stephan Lewies (Amanzimtoti Rugby Club)
20. Jean Deysel (Marshall Security Crusaders)
21. Charl McLeod (Varsity College RFC)
22. Heimar Williams (SA Home Loans Durban Collegians)
23. S’bura Sithole (UKZN Impi)

Dof dose

I never said Fat Frans would not be in the team - I said he better produce the goods - otherwise he will be gone sooner rather than later.

Lambie will last longer than Morne Steyn will last as starter for Stade Francais.   He has a rugby brain - Morne is a robot.

Sloth will be subbed early - he will as per normal last to about half time and is likely to be on thin ice - since he will produce as per normal if last year is taken into account - the bare minimum.

Reputation and media hype will not help Steyn and Alberts - they better start showing that they belong through good performance.   We will soon enough see what happens on Saturday .  

Saffex

I accept what you said about Francois Steyn covering the flyhalf position - but when he was tried at 10 years ago - he failed badly due to slow decision making.  Hope Lambie  lasts full games - because the usage of Steyn at 10 - would be seriously problematic. 

Dofdoos

He made his entry into provincial rugby at FULL BACK - he was later on tried at flyhalf - but failed in that position and was moved back to full back.   He was initially in the Springbok squad for 2007  at FULL BACK - but was moved to center as a result of the injury to Jean de Villiers.

KAKPRAAT is your stock in trade - not so.  Problem is I saw the earlier matches of Steyn at Kings Park and knows what happened.  That made me into an early admirer of Steyn - but that has worn  off since he is not producing the goods since his return from France.       

Saffex

Then please explain - why did the Sharks tried him at flyhalf a few times and promptly moved him back to full back?  Because of slow reaction to situations - that is the fact of the issue.  At full back he has more time to work things out - at center he is since his return from France not an example of instinctive play - slow and hence the very high percentage of crasballing as a result of running straight at opposition defenders - not an example of thinking rugby at all.   Maybe White can get his ways changed - at least I hope so.      

 The only issue I have with Steyn (Frans) is clevermike.

And to think that he (clevermike) is a fellow Durbanite is shocking to say the least.

Get a life man and follow your #1 game.

AJ

As stated repeatedly - when Steyn initially came onto the scene  I was one of his great3st admirers,   When he played for the Springboks in the WC he was solid - with some vague defence problems - I went to France to see the WC - and remained a fan.  That lasted through till his departure for France and I thought his return was fantastic news for the Sharks and the Springboks.

However, after watching him in the June tests in 2012 - I was disappointed  and lost faith in him - he really did nothing in those tests and made some serious foul ups as well.  That was followed by the RC tests - where he was really disappointing and again brought nothing to the game.

In 2013 I went to PMB to watch a pre-season game against the Leopards and especially to see whether Steyn was getting back to his earlier form.  He looked good and I wrote positively about the game on this site.  His first subsequent game against the Cheetahs was solid - without anything really showing class - but afterwards his performances got progressively worse until the Brumbies fiasco - where his performance was rotten.

Let me explain something - I think if Steyn can get his mojo back and start performing like he did in the period 2006 - 2009, there will be no bigger fan of Steyn than me.  However I have been saying all along I hope he gets back into form and start performing like he used to.   Thus far since his return from France things did not look good - but I hope White can get him back to top form.   If he does - the Sharks are onto something really good - if he does not, he is not indispensable.

Lets hope he can produce the goods this year and live up to his reputation,             

Dofdoos

He made his entry into provincial rugby at FULL BACK - he was later on tried at flyhalf - but failed in that position and was moved back to full back.   He was initially in the Springbok squad for 2007  at FULL BACK - but was moved to center as a result of the injury to Jean de Villiers.

KAKPRAAT is your stock in trade - not so.  Problem is I saw the earlier matches of Steyn at Kings Park and knows what happened.  That made me into an early admirer of Steyn - but that has worn off since he is not producing the goods since his return from France.       

In his debut season of Super 14 rugby, Frans Steyn was selected on the right wing, however, was moved to fullback when Percy Montgomery was injured. He played as the last line of defence until Percy Montgomery returned for the game against the Blues in Round 11, and was moved to fly-half for this game.

 Dof Doos

The writer must have been smoking some stuff - I saw every early game of Steyn he played at Kings Park - had a season ticket. His initial games were all at full back - where in his first game he came off the bench to play at full back.  He played a number of games at full back - that is where he came to the notice of the public - and then played at flyhalf - without much success.  How could he have the flyhalf of the Sharks - Butch James was the Sharks flyhalf when Steyn entered the scene?        

Even in the team announcement for the 2007 he was listed as a full back - NOT as flyhalf.  After his return from the WC  he rarely played at flyhalf and concentrated at playing at center.         

Shezza

 I think White had no option other than to pick Marais - he did well enough last year for the Kings.  However, I think that if he is not showing good form  he will be in competition with Tyler Fisher and Timo Swiel for selection. 

Hard days ahead for that kid 

 Dof doos

I accept your verdict - also that Butch James never existed and never played for the Sharks at flyhalf.    What an arsehole you are.  

boklogic

Steyn and Alberts will make me look bad if they up their game by 200% compared to their performances last year.

Elsewhere I used the ESPN stats to compared Alberts work rate with that of Labuschagne to irritate Mozart - who holds out that Labuschagne is a weakling.  The stats of Alberts look poor and as I said there - White will have a huge task to get Alberts to be even a remotely reasonable loosie this year.

For the sake of the Sharks I hope White succeeds - but we will soon enough see the results of White's labours in the relevant regard.  Alberts showed squat in the Saracens game and we will have to see whether Super 15 will be any better.

I think White is going with reputation here - and some of the players may not live up to reputation - so we will see what tomorrow produces.       

 Dof doos

I accept your verdict - also that Butch James never existed and never played for the Sharks at flyhalf.    What an arsehole you are.  

 Dof doos

The first time Francois Steyn entered a Sharks game was when he was on the bench and came in to replace the full back,  It was an eye-opener.

Butch James played for the Sharks at flyhalf from 2001 to 2007 - dof doos.   Steyn started playing for the Sharks in 2006 - and he did not replace Butch at flyhalf - dof doos.   Steyn only played flyhalf when James was not available - dof doos.

Even in Wikipedia Steyn's playing career was listed in the following order:-

Full Back - Center - wing - flyhalf

How fucking dim can a member of this site be?   There are a few really dim ones here - but you take the cake.   

All Black legend Andrew Mehrtens, who plays flyhalf for Racing, has fallen under Steyn's spell.

"It's a real privilege for me to play alongside Francois. He's like another Dan Carter. He has a real presence on the pitch and speaks a lot. It's very important for a flyhalf to have an inside centre who gives you a lot of information.

"His territorial kicking means the team is always gaining ground. He's brought consistency to the side."

Sun Tzu

I said it repeatedly - I always was a great admirer of Francois Steyn  from the first match I saw him playing coming from the bench for the Sharks at dull back.   He was mafic in his early years and I was delighted by his return from France and his selection to the Springbok team in 2012.

Something serious went amiss after his return.  He had to  play next to the shit poor Morne Steyn in the 2012 tests - but for some reason due partly to himself - je did not pass balls and ran straight at defenders.   He definitely was over-weight and not in good physical form and his performances can at best be described as average - in some respects he made mistakes - which could have justified a rating of below par.   Be it as it may - Steyn was injured and he was out of the Springbok squad for the rest of the year.

He made his comeback to Super 15 in terribly poor physical form.   Had an average performance in his first game against the Cheetahs, but thereafter became progressively worse in each subsequent game - ending in a season he would likely want to forget.   His unfortunate injury stopped him from making any form of a comeback later in the season. 

I have no problem with Steyn in the Sharks team - but will certainly have a problem with him if he does not up his performances drastically.   If he repeats his performances of 2013 - the sooner he is out of the team - the better.     

Lets hope Whit knocks some sense and form into Steyn and that we see much better performances in future.