Steyn is SA worst nightmare

What have we done to have him as flyhalf - missed 50% of his kicks at goal and he kicked aimlessly during the whole game.    Unless he has a conversion straight in front of the posts - he would miss them.  De Villiers made a mistake when he entrusted Steyn with the conversion kick of Pietersen's try.

However, the player sin general did not perform and my ratings are as follows:-

15   Aplon          =   5

14  Habana       =   7

 13  De Villiers  =   8

 12 Olivier          =    6

 11  Piewtersen =   8

 10  Steyn           =   2

   9  Hougaard   =   6

   8  Spies          =    6

   7  Potgieter    =    5

   6  Coetzee     =    7

   5   Kruger       =   7

   4  Etzebeth    =    6 

   Props             =    6

  Hooker           =     6

Potgieter on debut was definitely out of depth and I do not think he would make it on international level.   Aplon was also a problem and I believe Joe Pietersen would have done better.   However - the real problem is Steyn and I hope that Goosen gets well soon abd takes over.   Steyn currently is a matchloser if I have ever seen one.    No wonder the crowd booed him in the second half.

England was unfortunarte in the fact that there flyhalf was injured - if he took that last drop kick England would have won the game.  

Coetzee I would say should be a 5.5 and De Villiers 6. Etzebeth I would say is a 7.

How the hell was Aplon a problem, he followed up kicks, made every tackle took high balls with guts....harried the Poms all over the park.

And Morne's general play was fine. If you want a 2 ....look to Potgieter or Werner Kruger, whose belly flop lost our chance of winning.

If the score is 14-14 you have 4 minutes to go in ur own half, the worst thing to do is kick the ball away, whats that gonna do? Its time for steyn to go, who is with me?

Meyer wants forwards who can get over the gainline. Coetzee was outstanding. Spies pap and Potgieter not as effective as Alberts. Our style needs players like Alberts, Vermulen, Coenie,Schalk. Beast escapes criticism but what actually did he do? Go forward also comes from Frans who was out.

Expect changes when these players get fit. Hopefully Bekker gets well as he is better than Juandre.

Aplon is much ado about nothing. Great expectations and small realisations. He is getting on now as well. At best an impact player.

Beeno is right... Alberts, Vermulen, Coenie, Schalk, Fransie and Lambie when fit and hopefully in the team the Boks will truly be at full strength.

All you Morne bashers....

Morne was just handed his first England cap after the game as the best English player on the field.

Must say it was well earned.

When last did you hear a SA crowd BOO one of thier own....another first in pro rugby...well done Morne.

Goosen is needed big time ans as soon as possible.

I know it's hard to grasp, but Steyn wasn't going to reinvent South African back play in the last 10 minutes of the test.  Those guys had clear marching orders to win the damn thing....and he did the best thing.....get us into position to score.

That plan was messed up when Pienaar kept tapping the ball back into the ruck, and didn't try for a faster rythm. And it was finally destroyed when the utterly useless Werner Kruger belly flopped all over the down ball. Blame the right players if you want to play the blame game.

As for Aplon...Planet Rugby got it right:

15 Gio Aplon: Made a strong case for future inclusion with a fairly complete performance. Even after taking some big hits he kept on running hard, and might have made better yardage in drier conditions. His tackling was solid and overall positioning was good. 7/10

Cardinelli, generally a woolly thinker at least grasped the essence of the situation.....the booers obviously didn't have a clue

"England would level the scores 10 minutes later, leaving the game in the balance as full time approached. The Boks rightly looked to play the game down in England territory during this period. The crowd booed as a series of kicks were aimed at the England back three, but what it ensured was that the Boks stayed in sight of a late winner.

Fittingly, the Boks blew another couple of chances in the last five minutes. A drop-goal attempt by Steyn sailed wide and a subsequent sequence of Bok ball-carries culminated in a penalty for England, the visitors’ determination at the breakdown again providing them with an edge."

 Morne Steyn was useless today and should be dropped for anyone. Jantjies was rotting away on the bench. 

Some one else I have really started to hate is Werner Kruger- he does not seem to understand the rules of rugby and is way out of his depth. 

I noticed the scrum fell apart when bismark left the field to be replaced by that over rated blond haired hooker- I think Chilly Boy would a much better selection as the impact player. 

The scrum never fell apart....the Pom scrum did.

The the biggest problem was that the forwards didn't dominate sufficiently. Scrum was solid enough but deteriorated a bit when bissie went off. The locks were fair but not great. Juandre is not quite what we want. Etzebeth wasnt bad but I think we should start with Flip and Bekker with Etzebeth coming off the bench for the rest of theyear.

Coetzee was the best Bok foward along with Bissie. spies was not bad but still lacks mongrel. The loose trio of Kan kan, Coetzee and spies was nowhere near our best.

Half backS were poor. hougie sent out bad passes to players who got man and ball and doesnt really look likea natural scrummie - can that change?. Pienaar had better vision but was so non assertive. Morne Moz was not good and moz musy face reality. His kicking has been off for some time and is now very concerning.

The much mailgned Olivier, who is not the answer, nevertheless held up his end defensively and made a few breaks leaving many with red faces. Jean was on the wrong end of all this poor play as was Habana and JP.

Aplon like always in big matches threatened but came up with little. When he tried to run he got nailed. Impact layer if anything. Is age slowing him up at all?

But the problems started up f ront. Meyer has to have players who dominate the gainline. These are the players he will turn to.

All in all a useful test as England have a good pack and sound defence. As Meyer said the rain did not suit us and frankly never has.

Those getting all down on our rugby championship chances need to get real. We had nowhere near our best side and England were not a bad side at all. That is a fact.

 Mozart the springbok scrum was dominant the whole match as it went forward. However it started going backwars when bismark left the field. England dominated all scrums except for one when Bismark was not on the field.

What you missed sharkbok is that beast was bust. Remember when Coenie and Strauss came on and pulversied the England scrum. Beast is not fit enough to play  80 minutes and neither is Jannie?

Chilli boy is nowhere near being in the class of Strauss.

Thanks for the endorsement Shezza. Some folk think injuries are of no account and thus make rash judgements.

Solid start by Meyer in the circumstances but to me the real problems to solve are the half backs as the others are easy to sort out.

@arthur john,

the last time i heard saffas booing one of their own was bryan habana in about 2 differnet SA stadiums, i felt for real bad for him.

@mozart,

i agree with what u say about aplon, i thought he was very solid and one of the better players on the field, did exactly what u need him to do, took the high balls and retained it even after getting smashed and was always asking questions of the english defensive line.
i do disagree about morne though, i know hes saved more games for the Boks with his boot, but his selection has been in no small part due to his ability to kick goals and in game accurate strategical kicking and if he starts to lose that form, he starts to look more of a liability then an asset.
when there was like 5mins to go and the score was all level, morne kicked the ball, u say it put the Boks in good position, i say what good is position, when u dont have the ball??? that was the time to set up the back line to hit it up and start mounting some phases together and work ur way ever closer to the english line and either do it smart and get a penalty, or set urself up for a drop goal. the genetically coded 10man rugby which is part of Springbok DNA is responsible for that poor desicion.

 The big problem for me was Steyn how many times did het get caught in the pocket by trying to drop kick the ball only to have five Englishman on him. He also had a kick charged down. Hougaard just proved to me that he has no intelligence. His kick even got charged down after the forwards made a human centerpede. Really hate that tactic. 

It was only a matter of time before estebeth stop performing, his played almost every minute of rugby this season.

I think Pienaar did really well, his passing was great, took the ball up himself rather than giving the ball man and all.

I was really hoping for Jantjies to come on and ignite some pace in the back play. But I just hope that Meyer realises that he needs to start backing players other than the booooollllls. 

He should have brought de jongh in ages ago which would have bode well for the books backline.

I would really start worrying if starts the championship with hougaard and asteyn

...can't win em all...booing is not very patriotic either but some players have a bad day one week, next week they're heros like baby boks.... fairweather bok supporters should bite their tongues abit more perhaps.... clean sweeps like the ones the kiwis and wombat tribes are enjoying are good but be happy farrel fluffed the last kick or things could have been much worse for yarpie tribe...

Just a couple of comments about the issues raised by the various contributors following my assessment of the situation as mentioned above.:-

Sheeza

De Villiers was solid on defence and very good in that one line break - where there was not any supporters and the movement got killed.    He tried his best in other cases as well - hence the 8 point allocaton.   I would also say that the allocation for Potgieter was based on a few tackles put in by him.  I think he handled the ball twice - but otherwise was invisible and did not show anything that could be described as really warranting a higher point allocation.   He was  replaced rather early - so any point higher than 5 would have been a bit liberal.   I do not think he will be selected for the Boks again - there are too many other injured loosies around.      Etzebeth was good on average - but he spilled a ball when we were on atatck - but for the latter incident he would have qualified for a 7.

Mozart

You must be very upset with my point allocation for Steyn,    Let me explain a bit further - it was not only his 50% goalkicking that upset me - but also his line kicking.    His kicks were generally too far to allow for efffective follow-up, but also his judgement on when to kick and when to pass the ball.   On at least two occassions he kicked the ball away - when there was in fact more Springboks in the line than defenders - I think that was when the booing started.   On defence he was good, but for the rest poor.   I must have been thoroughly miffed when I wrote the points out within 15 minutes after the end of the game.    I would say a 3 is more appropriate on average.

I did not rate the replacements -   but would say that if I did - Kruger would have got a 1 for one tackle he made - othersie a zero.   What that guy is doing in the squad heaven only knows.    He is utterly oiut of place in a Springbok jersey.    If I was Meyer I would have put  Malherbe on the bench and forgot about Kruger - especially after the shambles of the second half of the second test.

Aplon made one bad mistake early - which put Bismarck off side and cost us 3 points.   He was good in defence and made a few effortas in attacking play - but it led to nothing - cannot rate him higher than a 5.  I really thought that he is a better wing and impact player than at full back and I would have liked to see Joe Pietersen at full back - since Meyer's form at goal kicking has really deteriorated badly in his last 7 games, when  he averaged between 50 and 60% success rate - since Pietersen is a top kicker at goal.

Beeno

I am a great believer in having two props and a hooker on the bench - and to replace those players circa 50 minutes into the game.    Remember therse players are really not top athletes - they have a major and very tiring roll to play.   Most teams replace them around that time - for them to play 80 minutes would lead to your suggestion of them not being fit - do not agree with you there.

You may mention the Junior Boks - but in their case - they were so much better than the opposition - that it was not necessary to replace them.  The replacement on Friday was more the result of an injury and not necessitated by lack of performance

I really am worried about Oosthuizen - his neck injury is a major problem that could result in his game being detrimentally affected in the longer term - or even threaten his career as happened in the case of Van Biljon in 2002-2003.   We will have to see what happens when he returns to the game.

Sharkbok

 Strauss is a wonderful performer on Super 15 level - but fell away completely in the two tests he came on as a replacement.   Is he really an international hooker - or is his destiny to be on Super 15 level and not higher?   The jury is out on that one.   I am not sure about Chilliboy either - also on that account - but also because of his weight issue.   Remember an issue about hookers - they have a hooking roll - but even more importantly they also have to scrum - and that is a real problem with lighter hookers.   The cupoboard is not really full on that score.  Bismarck has spoilt us there - but we need another Bismarck - not a lighty.

Sasuke

I hate people being booed on tthe field - they are all trying their best.   In SA we have another problem and that is provincialism.   When Habana was playing for the Stormers he was booed - but when he switched to the Bulls - he was the most popular player around - that accounted for him being booed.  Many of the spectators are Knowledgeable and they understand when players take the wrong options and there is serious discontent with Steyn.   I can understand the issue on yesterday - but do not condone the booing by the crowd.

Kingcorn

Behind a winning pack Hougaard is king - but is he really a scrummy?   People would kill me for saying that - but Pienaar is really a better scrummy than him.   His tendency to get kicks down-charged, is a major problem and I do not think that Hougaard would have made the pass that let to Pietersen's try.

Sitting Bull 

Welcome back - the booing is to my mind taboo.   New Zealand had a brilliant game against a poor Irish performance - even O'Driscoll was bad and that says a lot.