Background
In the peroiod from 1992 to 2018 0 wqhew t he Springboks if they were luccky had a major problem elating to backli.ne usgae,, The main oproblem was always that the role of the backline was to be used as a defenssive role only without the need to score tries. In tnat period there were a problem identified by Carel du Plessis when he was appointed fo a bief period in 1997 - the Springboks problem was the inability for the backline to score tries. The public was told that wqhat Du Plessis criticized was the fact that ten man rugby was **Tradiotional Springbok Rugby**.
Be it as it may it was traditional bull shit, Carel than started looking for a proper flyhalf to get away from the false Traditionla SA Rugby myth. and he picked a backline that was effective and the pivot was Honiball. as the pivot at flyhalf, As to be expected ,the change-over was initially problematic and Du Plessis was replaced by Mallett - but before that the Springboks beat th BRI LIons by the bggest winning margin eve and beat the A ussies the same way, Mallett himself was useless as a backline coach - but added Moore to pay at 12 and moved Montgomery from outside center to fullback. The last test under Du Plessis led to the boggestd efeat ever of the Aussies a gainst SA ever - followed by 16 straight wins in tests,
However Mallett became a problem himself - he was clueless about backline attacking play and the players identified by Du Plessis gradually was retiring from Springbok Rugby and by 1999 he also fired Teichmann as ca;tainof the team. Th siotuation was pathetic - in the 1999 RWC the Sringboks got to the semi and was thrashed by the Aussies because the backline became disfuctional, In the end the brief period of SA being the tho top international rugby side in the world came to an ugly end in 2000. and Mallett realzing he was on the chopping block he resigned before he would have been fired, he resigned in a huff giving ticket prices in a Durban test as his reason for regnation as coach,,
The fact is that Malklett used a squad he inherited from Du Plessis - but his successors did not have a clue about backline attacking play, I call the period 2000 to 2017 the dark age of Springbok Rugby. White was the High Priest of 10 man rugby - followed by the clueless De Villiers and the worse Meyer with the disastrous Coetzee. In the period 1996 to 2017 the Spring boks beat the AB;s in exactly two tests - one n 2008 and the other in 2014, During the period from 2000 to 2017 the Springbks had coaches unable to coach the team in strategies to score tries and improved defense In hi bppk Jophn Smit wrote that there wer o coaching based onm neuitralizing opposition attacks at all by White, in the 2007 RWC. The fact is that the Springboks had the luck of a [ox docter - they never payed any team ranked abpve the,m in the RWC,
The roll of flyhalfs in backline play
The bottom of backline play was reached while Morne Steyn was flyhalf was limitless. The pro/blem wass clarified by Hansen as AB Coach before the o/ly test the A B's lose in the eriod 2009 to 2018 when he said in a famous statement in which he stated that the AB's knew what to expect from Steyn at flyhalf but did not know what to expect from Pollard - and the Springboks won the match in Joburg. Meyer had one problem he wanted Pollard tp become a better version of Steyn as a flyhalf and tried to tutn Pollard into a kicking dummy - nearly destroying Pollard by turnng him ito a kicking dummy in the mold of Steyn and that had a detrimental effect on Poll.ard as a player,
In 2014-15 Pollard was in and out of th e Springbok team reguarly because he was not really a kicking dummy like Steyn. Pollard received better coahing from Erasmus and he thrive in 2018-2019 - but h s injury pro/ne and gradualy his performance startd going down due to aging and a battered body at flyhalf, *
What is the flyhalf situation at pesent
So lets compare the present flyhalf situation at present and for that purpose I compare the spresent lot with the present available flyhalfs compared to Morne Steyn:-
Morne Steyn
Aimless kicking - 90% of the tme
Goal kicking top class
Defense - rated 3 out of 10
Attacking play - rated 1 out of 10
Pollard
Aimless kicking - 50% of the tme
Goal kicking top class
Defense - rated 4 out of 10
Attacking play - rated 4 out of 10
Moyo
Maybe it is unfair because Moyo played n only oe est and never payed on frachise URC ;evel yet - but his performance in Under 20 Rugby was no convincing at all.
Aimless kicking - 90% of the tIme
Goal kicking 4 out of 10
Defense - rated 3 out of 10
Attacking play - rated 1 out of 10
Summary
Lets face facts - the only real and aceptable flyhalf we have at present is Sacha Febverg-Ngmezulu - with Jaqeen Ahmed - a promising yonugster in the Sacha mold. Libbbok is a gamble at best, - , , , ,
