The incredible Steyns…..Morne retires from Test Rugby

The stellar Steyns have been around forever. Morne since 2009. Incredibly his match and series winning heroics against the Lions occurred in his first starting test. Some nerve, which he demonstrated again this year. A dignified man he departs wanting to spend less time away from his family. In this case a believable explanation.

A vastly underrated player who controlled test matches with great instinct, although admittedly one whose repertoire didn’t include wide open running rugby.

And then there’s Frans. Written off in 2014 by Clever’s bar room sources….his knees were totally shot we were told…..he is still going strong. Frans played his first Bok match in November 2006…..fifteen years an active Bok. Has anybody exceeded this record, I can’t think of any other player who was an active Bok for 15 years.

But while his record is a triumph it’s also a Bok tragedy. Excluded from the team in his prime years for some trivial political offense we vastly under utilized one of our great talents. If Frans played in NZ he would have been an all time great.

Although not popular with many bloggers on this site these two players have helped the Springboks win in more than one game.

Morne thank you for your service to the Springboks and your country and Frans trust you have a great EOTY tour without any serious injury.

Thank you.

Morné retires as the most successful South African flyhalf of all time. His tries per test exceed most of the popular Bok 10s including all but Stransky, as I recall. Second highest points per test, which is amazing given the volume of tests he has played! He holds many records and has the best trophy cabinet of any Bok. His teams scored tries. In the absence of Du Preez, whom many attributed Steyn's success, he spearheaded a Bulls side that was one of the two most prolific attacking teams in Super rugby history. In 2009 his Bulls has a linebreak to try ratio of 2:1. He again, in 2013 showed how to pull the strings in the last great attacking Bok side. He seldom ran at defenders taking contact, but he did engage them and had a pass every bit as great as Du Preez, off either hand. His long passes and short-range passing really were lethal in a team that was coached properly. In short, you have a setup with runners to pick out, he was a great decision-maker. I can't recall Morné ever throwing a hospital pass, and have seen him many times withholding the pass in favour of contact, to protect the ball. His defence was always elite; it was a myth perpetuated by Keo first, I believe. That he can't defend. Morné was always a very solid defender, and the All Blacks themselves didn't really target his channel in any one test. Morné was constantly belittled and misrepresented by, quite frankly, a very unintelligent fanbase that leaves me feeling embarrassed to be South African. We didn't deserve him, and if we had better coaching in the early parts of his career, we could have extracted even more from him. 

Prime Frans was the best inside centre I have seen from South Africa. He ticked every box. Esterhuizen has all of these things, but lacks Frans' desire to dominate and to do so with intense focus and energy. But then, the Boks have missed the boat on lots of talent through stupidity. We lost kockott for a fat and passed his best Januarie, we didn't really stick with Brussow (the best Bok fetcher I have ever seen, and rightful world player of the year award in 2009).  

"Morné was constantly belittled and misrepresented by, quite frankly, a very unintelligent fanbase that leaves me feeling embarrassed to be South African. We didn't deserve him:

Fully agree, it's disgusting how some have treated him

"we didn't really stick with Brussow (the best Bok fetcher I have ever seen, and rightful world player of the year award in 2009)."

Fully agree, a bloody monster in contact

"Prime Frans was the best inside centre I have seen from South Africa"

Fully agree, never scared of any hard contact

"Excluded from the team in his prime years for some trivial political offense we vastly under utilized one of our great talents. "

As far as I'm aware, Fransie made himself unavailable for selection a few times...under Snor and under Meyer...it wasn't "a trivial political offense", it was all about the money.

""Prime Frans was the best inside centre I have seen from South Africa"

Fully agree, never scared of any hard contact"

Very big call...great player... a handy 10 and 12, but IMO his best value for the Bokke was at 15...but not nearly best in any of those positions...could have been at 12 and 15, but not enough to matches to claim that...by his own choice...and it's very unlikely that he'll play in the next RWC, so I don't really understand his inclusion for the EOYT.

Frans made himself unavailable for Meyer on the eve of the world cup due to his brother, Wimpy, committing suicide. He was very close to his brother. The rest was Snor being a butthead. 

Frans' output at 15, in his best stint at 15, was behind Kirchner and Aplon. He was never the best 15 in the country and never outplayed Kirchner, Willie, Aplon or even Lambie at 15. He is talented enough to play well anywhere in the backline, but his very best work has been at 12, then 10, then 13. In that order. Nobody played 12 better than Frans from 2007 until 2018.  People forget how phenomenal Frans was at 10 for the Sharks. I can post his stats for the season in 2008. 

ja ja, I know your opinion, but mine is based on his 2009 Trinations performances

...as for his unavailability...while he played for the Sharks, there were some commercial rights issue...nothing wrong with it, but he withdrew because there was a dispute about money...or rights or something...he wasn't ever dropped for trivial political offenses I know of...please elaborate...I might have missed something.

What was his 2009 output in 2009? There is the assumption that his kicking out of hand was decisive; it wasn't. He was stout enough in defence, but not perfect and he didn't come close to the attacking production of Kirchner, who carved up New Zealand's defence with 75m. In terms of kicking, he wasn't much different from Kirchner, though Kirchner was actually more involved with the boot overall. Nothing really stands out aside from the second Lions test, as far as Frans' production at 15 is concerned. It certainly pales in comparison to his contributions at 12 and 13. Mine isn't based on mere opinion. Nothing I have posted on this forum is, unless clearly stated by myself. If you're going to get into a battle of the facts, you better do your research Herr Draht. Platstiks don't last long with me as they never get their facts straight and I am loaded to the teeth with everything. The difference between a real fan and a pseudo fan I guess. 

He won us a few crucial matches with long range drop kicks and penalties...gave us the small edge needed to beat NZ 3 times in a row...and he joined the backline on attack  with good effect...my opinion,  but I'm surprised you deny that vital contribution...I've done the research and tabled it on this site almost a decade ago...not going to bother digging it out now...it's in the stats, it depends on where you want the emphasis...Kirchner was good in 2010, I'll give you that, but only because Fransie was out of the picture...tell me, in what position did Frans impress in the victory against the Allblacks this year?

What small edge?

Game 1 vs NZ:
Runs: 9
Metres: 62
Pens: 2
Kicks: 4
Tackles: 1/0
T/Os: 1

Game 2 vs NZ
Runs: 2
Metres: 0
Pens: 0
Kicks: 4
Tackles: 2/0
T/Os: 0

Game 3 vs NZ
Runs: 2
Metres: 0
Pens: 3
Kicks: 3
Tackles: 7/0 
T/Os: 1

He took some penalties, but there was nothing Morné couldn't land himself. In fact, the biggest pressure kicks of the year fell to Morné, not Frans. 

Aag FFS, why did he take the penalties if Morné could have? Morné was the new hero, coming off the back of a Lions series win, but Fransie landed 5 penalties in 3 matches... What ever for? He took the shots out of Mornès range...remember Morras was still a rook back then. That's 15 points from long range...the edge we needed.

 Look at the losing margins against NZ since the last match in 2017...if we had an average of 5 points a match added to our score for those matches, we would have won all bar one!  Think about it...

Fransie changed the whole NZ approach,  but it was in vain...we won 3 back to back.

To me the definitive evidence of Frans’ value at 10 was 2014 Super Rugby. Lambie was hurt and Frans pressed into flyhalf duty. During that period the Sharks were the most successful team in the tournament, including the famous 13 man win over the Crusaders in NZ.

Then Lambie was available, was restored to the 10 berth and the Sharks crashed out of the competition.

Boy vs man but the morons didn’t get it.

Nienaber on Morne:

 "We wouldn't have put him in the Lions and Rugby Championship groups if we didn't feel there was a role for him to play up to 2023," said Nienaber.

"Morne's rugby IQ is so high and his intellectual capital vast. He was always eager share his insights. But we're 100% comfortable with his decision, we respect it fully. In my communication with him, he said that he believes there's about two years of competitive play left in him and he'd like to enjoy it with the Bulls."

One major factor is the strict logistics regarding bio-secure environments on tours.

"We're all in different phases of our lives and Morne's is also unique. We embrace that and understand it," said Nienaber.

"What tilted towards his retirement is that he's a big family man and I think, especially with Covid and access, it's not easy for family to come into bubbles."

Steyn ends with 742 points from his 68 Tests, the Boks' second most prolific point scorer, and Nienaber hailed the solid, pragmatic No 10 as a proverbial magic-maker.

"What can you say? He's just been such a great servant to SA rugby and a brilliant rugby player. Hats off to him in terms of what he's delivered on the field. He created magic, like the contests against the Lions and winning it twice. It speaks volumes.

"He was phenomenal working with this last 20 weeks. He always contributed, painted good pictures, helped prepare the team and was never afraid to give his input to the younger players.”

Another joke - the worst flyhalf I have ever seen play - with poor and aimless out of hand kicking and even Meyer dropped him from the team - once in 2012 and twice in  2014.   He offered nothing at  flyhalf  since he virtually never attacked the gain line and his defense was putrid at best.    As many as the games he won for the Springboks - so many he lost through poor flyhalf play.

You guys really have it in for Frans Steyn.

He was a good player at #15, #13, #12 and #10 for his country.

At #15 he was much better than Kirchner and he did sterling work against the AB's in more than one game.

The Sharks played him at #10 for the injured Lambie and they should of kept him at #10 when Lambie returned and moved Lambie to #15.

Unfortunately "Father Time" has caught up to him but he still has the drive and the kick that he had as a 19 year  old player.

One of the most respected Springboks of all time in my opinion.

Give credit where it is due.

Wonder what is going to be written about Elton once he is dropped.

One of the first times I saw Frans play a ball was lying up for grabs on the deck. Frans rushed in, flat out, scooped it up and just kept going. Brilliant.

Was that in a test or in a Super 14 game where Frans was  a total flop in 2013, 2014 and 2015 so was it when he played for the Sharks before his departure to France.    By the way Frans Steyn was never from  2012  to 2015 on contract with the Sharks - he was on contract with SARU who allocated him to the Sharks  - and it was SARU who decided  not to renew the contract  because of substandard performances for the Sharks.