The injury to the Great Francois Steyn

Good news,  Frans made a full recovery from this injury sustained in 2013....to the extent that he led the Sharks to their golden period in 2014, when they beat the Saders   away with 13 men:  

‘The Sharks injury woes have grown with the news that Frans Steyn is out for the season while Craig Burden has returned home.

The Sharks injury woes have grown with the news that Frans Steyn will miss the rest of the season while Craig Burden has returned home.

Steyn limped off the field during his side's loss to the Highlanders on Saturday with an injury to his lower leg. X-rays revealed no broken bones, but further investigation led to a diagnosis of “compartment syndrome”, which is heavy pressure build-up in a limb. 

The Springbok has since undergone surgery to release the pressure and will go under the knife once more on Tuesday, with the Sharks hopeful he will be able to fly home on Thursday.’

His knee was busted too...battle scars.

Was Frans Steyn ever the World Player of the year?   A great he never was after show ing early promise - but that is where it remains.  

Francois Steyn is probably in the top 10-15 earners in world rugby over a period spanning 12+ years. 

He was not the same after "a/this" knee injury. 

Following this injury, he transformed more into a power player that weighed the same as many forwards - like Esterhuizen. 

Still very effective- but less x-factor as an athlete on the attack and kicking for poles.

Frans was a great player before injury Mike and what Shark said is correct and was unfortunate through injury.

Obviously you are never quite the same, but he soldiered on and under those circumstances did pretty well and is financially secure.

Cannot blame him or others for going to France...Saffex I guess his bank balance is bigger than most and he did play Springbok when it mattered. I think he is a sensible fella. He did well even when life throws you a curved ball.

He was over weight when he came back from France but later sorted himself out.

He was unfairly criticized.

Frans was a great player before injury Mike and what Shark said is correct and was unfortunate through injury.

Obviously you are never quite the same, but he soldiered on and under those circumstances did pretty well and is financially secure.

Cannot blame him or others for going to France...Saffex I guess his bank balance is bigger than most and he did play Springbok when it mattered. I think he is a sensible fella. He did well even when life throws you a curved ball.

He was over weight when he came back from France but later sorted himself out.

He was unfairly criticized.

Frans was the best South African 12 until 2015. He was always a physical but skillful player, a very mature player, and more importantly a dominant one. I'd say the most rounded 12 we've ever had. We never got the most out of him because of stubborn ignorance, much like the situation with Brussow - who was never dominanted by McCaw or Pocock in any game. When I saw Frans last year, he clearly lost his power and a step, but was still better than Damian, as evidenced when he cleaned up after another trademark flub tackle in the final for a clean run to the line. Esterhuizen upgrades on what Frans brought, but isn't as assertive. Still, it's been a very common sight seeing Andre the Giant getting players away in space at all levels. He has the best distribution skills of any 12 South Africa has produced in my time. Clearly the best and most measured passer the Boks can field, alongside RG.

The Frans Carter saw in France left an impression on him. He remarked how cerebral Frans' game was, and how much info he communicates. Said he was very mature and made everyone elses job easier. If he was good enough to impress the greatest 10 of all time, he was a very good player. 

Seb

Steyn was great when I saw him playing for the Sharks at 19 years of age,   When I saw him oma flight from Perth after going there to watch SA playing Australia he was very tall nd slim.  

In the WC in 2007 he showed great promise especially from a kicking and ball varying perspective - but had some problems in defense.   In 2009 he went to France to play for Racing Metro and I rarely saw him play in games in France - the one game I did see on TV he was disappointing,    He was clearly a vastly different player from the one I used to admire very much - there was no slimness left and he was rather slow and not at all effective in defense.   

By early 2012 it became clear that Racing Metro would not renew his contract and he was on his way back to SA.   Like all SA fans it was great news for me as well.   SARU signed a contract to play for them for three years as from 2012 and he was allocated to the Sharks.   His problems soon became evident - he was grossly over weight and slow.  His record in the tests he played in in 2012 was way below par and he then had a foot problem - which took him out of some tests,  Be it as it may he was never selected by Meyer subsequently - bar for one training camp - where he left in a huff. 

In 2013 he played four matches in Super Rugby and was a disaster.  His weight problem was out of control - he was 118 kgs and Plumtree insisted that he gets down to about 106 to 108 kgs as his weight was impacting of his pace and  he had a knee problem as well.   That problem probably started in France, I am not aware of the knee problem before he came back to SA.  Be it as it may Steyn Plumtree stated he was not a center and decided to use him as a stand-in full back - he played a few matches from the bench,   

Anyway his game time was actually very limited in 2013 and the one game he started in was against the Highlanders where he had the injury Mozart referred to above, which ended his provincial games in 2013.    He was going nowhere with Plumtree around and he got a lifeline when White was appointed as Sharks coach in 2014.   Although there were many arguments as to his performance, there were clearly question marks in evidence,   While White was coach he used him at flyhalf and center.   When playing at center he was problematic.   At flyhalf he was just about average in performance.   

2015 was a bad year for Steyn - he was red-carded in March 2015 and banned for 5 weeks.  The Sharks after his return remained to be poor and Steyn was not much better than he was since 2012,   Be it as it may - when his SARU contract expired in 2015 it was not renewed and Steyn went off to Japan  and from there to Montpellier, where White took over the coaching.   White contracted a host of SA players and Steyn was one of those whom White regularly used for 2016 and 2017.  However, when White left Montpelllier, Steyn stayed on to serve out his contract,  That ended up with him playing at full back for the club.   

Erasmus as new coach of the Springboks searched for a center to back up De Allende and used Esterhuizen initially for that purpose in 2018.  However, by 2019 it was clear that Esterhuizen was not the answer and in the end Erasmus called up Steyn for the WC squad.   Other than 2 matches against the weakest teams  in the Pool stages Steyn was a dirt-tracker - not the frontline player.

Steyn obviously through the years struggled with injuries - but his main problems appeared to be his weight problem.  That is why I wrote that he was promising before his departure to France in 2009 and never after that was the player who showed massive promise early.

I do no think Steyn earned that much in France,   He was there for six years the past 12 years and he was not really  the highest paid individual player around.                               

AO

When did Carter say what you claimed he said about Steyn?   Never saw commentary on that.   However, what you said about Steyn really is worthless and  total junk as expected.   He may have been assertive early on - but in the main by 2012 was totally worthless as a  center,   The one game where in Super 15 De Allende played against Steyn - the former made him look as worthless as I stated,  

Sure he was rounded after h is return from France - he only thing rounded was his stomach - so big he could not see his feet when he tried to make relieving kicks in 2 test matches in 2012 amd the balls rolled along the grass.   LMAO.    

No amount of AO lies would get over that one.   The best 12 ever in SA, LMAO.          

What Frans Steyn achieved on the rugby field both as a Shark and as a Springbok has not and never will be equaled by any posters on this site.

He was outstanding in his early years both with the boot and in general play some of his penalty kicks were outstanding.

So after his career appears to be ending as a player he has earned two WC  Gold medals has entertained many a rugby spectator across the rugby world.

No all the South African "EXPERTS" are trashing him...what a pity.

Tell me all you "experts" what did you ever achieve on the rugby field playing for your Pub teams .

Thanks, Frans I enjoyed your skill both on and off the field.

AJH

I credit Steyn as a rugby player - he was a star when he came on the scene,   However,  I differ from people who claims he is a rugby great,    As far as I am concerned he was an average player after his return from France in 2012 and that resulted in him not being a regular in the Springbok team.       

But thankfully Erasmus found some skills in his play that matched up with the requirements for the WC squad and the rest is history.

Slamming him is not the way to show appreciation for his career irrespective of who and what he has on offer now.

Remember to treat them like old soldiers and let them simply be left to fade out of the limelight.

Well would Mehrtens do.....here’s what he said about  Frans.

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

“LIKE DAN CARTER”

“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.

....

Cheezer I assume you  do ....er...remember Mehrtens? Still waiting for your apology.

Fransie was a handy 12 and a brilliant 15 who, as a kid,  played a fantastic match at FH for the Sharks, to beat WP in a rain drenched Currie Cup final. Great player, but one always feels that he somehow didn't really reached his true potential...pity, but he still has his 2 RWC gold medals, and he had a beer with Harry while Faf was prancing around in a speedo.

So it was Merthens who played at flyhalf for Racing Metro and played with Steyn at center for one season - it was NOT Carter, as alleged by the Idiot Speaker AO,

When going to France initially in 2009 Steyn had a big reputation and was still a good player,  However, in his last year for the Club he was pathetic and the Club would not renew his contract.   I would rather believe what Plumtree said about him after his return from France.

He was very clear stating  that Steyn is not a center - neither is he a full back as he is too slow to play in that position.   He became a problem at Racing Metro, was one for the Sharks and ended up the same way for Montpellier.  Nobody would renew playing contracts with him - what does that say about his performances?                        

Frans logged the worst defensive stats of all 15s under Peter, and was not the best attacker either. He was okay at 15, he wasn't excellent. His best performances are, in order: 12, 13, 10, 14, 15.

We hardly ever lost with Fransie at 15...I know it's too narrow a way to look at things, but interesting all the same...or was it because Jean and Jacques were in midfield, with Habana and FdP in the mix too? ...boy did we have a team in 2009!

OA

AO

His best stats at 10 and 12 was somewhat sick after 2012,  Steyn needed time to think about what to do and that made him ineffective in those two positions.   He was slow in decision-making.

Foxsport ratings are based on stats and in 2014 they rated Steyn as the number 32 player at center in Super Rugby.   Overall he was rated as statistically the number 252 player in Super Rugby that year,  

There is still the question - if Steyn was effective as claimed by you why did neither of Racing Metro, SARU and Montpellier renewed their playing contracts with him?         

       ,       

So who was at 10 when the Sharks were the best team in the 2014 Super Rugby tournament... the moment Lambie replaced Frans the team faded.

No the team faded earlier with Steyn at flyhalf,  He was poor in that position and was poor at center as well,   His stats in both positions showed zero above average to poor in 2014 and he was worse in 2015.

However, the topic is about you calling Steyn a  great player - he never was a Rugby Great,  His record after a promising start was nothing to write home about on test level,.