Steppie stats...is a turnaround possible?

In his second year Serfontein is having a painfully ordinary S15. With his inside step manouvre he is gathering 3.45 metres per carry and has made all of three clean breaks in 73 runs! His tackling at 85% is on the lower bound of acceptable. More crucially we are seeing nothing unusual from the lad.

Serfontein, playing in SA against foreign youngsters looked good at age level. He was heralded as the next big thing. But over a year later there isn't one golden moment to hang one's hat on....just a series of workmanlike probes.

So what are the chances he could start to really influence games, even at the S15 level? Well the strongest point is his youth....unlike mid career JJ he has time. But does he have real talent that shines beyond effort and competence. Jean was loafing much of the game on Saturday. But then he decided to play and ripped two holes in the Cheetahs defence...does Steppie have that talent?

It would appear not. Firstly he appears to be of average pace, no more. And while he is a sturdy young chap, he is not strong in the Roberts mould. His pass seems fine, but not unusual and he doesn't seem to see the field very well.

If I were advising Jan, I'd suggest he look at every tape he could find of Tim Horan....a player with similar attributes who beat the Boks in the RWC semi in 99. Tim did that stepping off his outside foot, but he did it when there was space to be had....and then immediately cut outside, not inside.

There are so many of these steppers who bomb...Jan's predecessor Olivier being a classic case....it's obvious the Horan's are few and far between. Somehow I doubt Serfontein is one of them, but he has time on his side.

HasBEEN I know you are backing Jan, he is a nice South African boy and everybody said he was going to be great. The trouble is great centres are explosive when they are young ....O Driscoll, Mortlock, Jean, Joubert, Fofana.....these guys all scored great tries in tests at a young age. But Jan hasn't had any chances at centre in tests you say. And I say, what about his 10 odd S15 games this year....has he made one great run....just one? Jordaan, Jean, de Jongh and Sadie have all had super moments. Poor Jan has acumulated about 100 inside steps.

There is no evidence that this kid will ever shine in top company. It's not that he is too slow, but he doesn't have outstanding pace, strength or elusiveness.....you need two out of the three....or otherwise one dominating strength like the power of Roberts or Frans.

I'm afraid this is another media miss.