The matured Frans Steyn - What a wonderful team player

The enigmatic 32-year-old utility back’s impact on the Ellis Park was dramatic. That says something.

When one is dealing with a big yet enigmatic personality like Frans Steyn, it’s very easy to lose perspective.

The 32-year-old utility back has developed a reputation for being a tad difficult, especially after placing himself into international exile in 2014 due to an image rights dispute with SA Rugby.

There was brief return in 2017 for a home series against France, but the impression had always been that Springbok rugby needed Steyn more than he needed it.

It’s therefore significant that the Montpellier stalwart, his French club, gave a frank account of his first Test in over 24 months.

“I was nervous. My wife was pacing up and down at the hotel before we left for the game. Watching her made me nervous,” Steyn said following the Springboks’ encouraging 35-17 victory over the Wallabies at Ellis Park on Saturday.

“When we started to warm up at Ellis Park, I calmed down a little bit.”

It’s an admission that shows that even a man of his vast experience and pedigree still feels vulnerable when he pulls the Green-and-Gold jersey over his head.

More importantly, it attests to his hunger for one last crack at the Webb Ellis Trophy he memorably helped win as 20-year-old in 2007.

That was evident in an excellent 28-minute cameo as replacement, where his direct running in midfield provided momentum and gave the Aussie defence various headaches.

“I’m actually happy that I didn’t start against Australia, because I’ve been in the squad for just two weeks and I’m still trying to get used to all the structures. I can’t say we don’t get coached that well in France, but Rassie and his team have really stepped up. They’ve done a great job,” said Steyn.

“I’ve been around and I’ve had my bad years. Careers have ups and downs. It’s one of those things. Mine has gone up and down, as everybody in this room knows.”

The utility back was, on Sunday, included in Rassie Erasmus’ touring squad for the remaining games against the All Blacks and Argentina, but he’s not reading much into that nod.

“We’ll have to wait and see if I get picked. If I don’t play, I’ll be there supporting the guys who do. If I play, I’ll try my best. During my time here there probably will be some screw-ups. But I’ll do my best,” he said.

What did Steyn actually do in the 28 minutes he played.   Carried the ball 6 times and crashballed all six times, passed the ball once and off-loaded it once.   Made NO tackles and missed a crucial one.   That was the sum total of what he did.   A huge improvement on the dismal Esterhuizen - but is that really enough.   

He has to do much more than what we got used to from him since 2012 and my question remains - who is he employed by at present.  As far a I can remember his contract was not extended with Montpellier and he was looking for a contract in SA.    

What did Steyn actually do in the 28 minutes he played.   Carried the ball 6 times and crashballed all six times, passed the ball once and off-loaded it once.   Made NO tackles and missed a crucial one.   That was the sum total of what he did.   A huge improvement on the dismal Esterhuizen - but is that really enough.   

He has to do much more than what we got used to from him since 2012 and my question remains - who is he employed by at present.  As far a I can remember his contract was not extended with Montpellier and he was looking for a contract in SA.    

A typical example of Frans' defense which will not show up in the stats, but kicked off a possesson turnover for the Boks:

60:49 rush defense on Beale forcing a panic pass to Foley, pressured by Steph, whose offload is intercepted by Kriel

Forget the stats, watch the game.

Likewise 64:42 as he aggressively cuts down the space with Nkosi, forcing a pointless grubber by A22.

S ong and dance by the same members and imaging the most ordinary things as extra-ordinary.   What can one expect from those members - maligning good players and praising doubtful ones.  After so many disastrous yeas of Steyn performances a bad opinion can only change through sustained top performances and the one on Saturday was very average.  ant to ee more - not soe imagined ones - real ones.    

Likewise a poster who elsewhere claims that Steyn did "nothing" on defense just because the stats read 0 tackles also needs to be shown his error. The above examples aren't extraordinary plays by any stretch, but only serves to indicate that the player was actively involved in defense and that his efforts contributed to the disruption of at least two Australian attacks/possessions, voiding the "doing nothing" argument as put forth.

What tackles did he make stupid?

Joint tackles at 52:22 on Hodge and 60:40 on Fainga'a.

When I review players, I look at movement off the ball. Because stats don't come close to capturing everything. Rushing up on the outside can shut down an attack - just think back to the away TNs All Black test, how Carter complained about Paulse doing that very thing! You have to put it all in context, as Pakie quite clearly did . If you can't do that, you really don't have any perspective of the game. 

I looked very carefully at Steyn particularly.   My impression is that Frans is still not a center - he is just not capable of being one.   What he produced on Saturday was very, very limited,  I want to see more of him before making any real deductions and writing realistic comments.

I used to be a great Steyn supporter - but his performances since his return from France in 2012 was a bitter disappointment - so I want to see more before writing objective reviews.

We only have two 12s ready for test rugb y. Damian isn't one of them Mike. The two centres you have attacked the most have been consistently bettered than your hero. 

That from Idiot Speaker 1.   I am not the discussion point - Fat Fransie is.

There we go again with the mud sling at the object of your frustration. 

I have no heroes and the two - Esterhuizen and Frans Steyn - have been serial flops for years.  De Allende is twice the center those two are - whether you like it or not.. . 

Twice the centre? Is that in missed tackles and hogged ball? Yeah, you're actually right for once. For the latter, even more than half! 

Nobody made more missed tackles in tests and Super Rugby than the two I mentioned.   Thee tackle count was bad.    De Allende had one poor tackle gme in 2015 and e\sice than is missed tackle ratio was low.  That was enough to make piss brains blame him still for being a missed tackle problem.

We went through the exercise as to Esterhuizen test missed tackle ratio last year and compare it with the one of De Allende and Esterhuizen tackle success rate was more than 10 points lower than De Allende.  Aside from that his Esterhuizen's tackle count was low too.

Damian was weak on defence in every test of 2015. He was missing upwards of 4-5 tackles often under Coetzee. Coetzee went to de Jongh to shore up that channel! 

Of course, if you have evidence to the contrary then please provide it. 

Esterhuizen's defence was vastly superior to that of Damian's last year. Careful now, as I have their entire season up online! As for low tackle count, this is another fallacy of yours. Show me where Esterhuizen avoids tackle situations. You can't. Digging deeper and deeper. 

Frans has been frot for some years now. 

There was not enough to be sure what shape he is in etc. 

The oaks are jumping the gun. 

Personally I want to see a lot more before coming to a conclusion. 

I think Rassie has Allende and Am penciled in to start against nz.  I hope we see Frans come on against the wee abs. If that goes well start him against the Argies. 

Oaks we need EVIDENCE.  Can he play 80 minutes or is he okay for 25 minutes. 

How quick is he. Can he still step. Etc

Give him a shot to play himself in or out of the squad. Assessments right now are based on very little. 

Was a great Frans fan but his shoddy, lazy, disinterested displays switched me off. It will take more than a brief  outing to jump back on the Frans  train. EVIDENCE is the key here oaks.

Beeno offering wise council to hyper reactions from the oaks . 

We shall hopefully see how effective Frans is over the next two matches. 

It would be a great boost if the Frans of old re-emerged. 

Andre can do likewise and has been doing thus for the Sharks this season. Both players are immensely physical in contact. I don't have data on Frans club rugby, but I know that Andre has around 40/60 split between pass and run. That's perfectly fine for a 12. His offloading is the best of all our centres. His close quarter passing is also the best. 

I know Rassie will choose Damian as his #1. In fact, I had in mind that he would be our 12 for this season before the 2015 WC. Myths tend to linger for years in Bok rugby. 

If Frans can win a starting role, then great. Whoever is the best man for the job is fine with me. 

Fair enough Organhuffer. I don't think Rassie would think otherwise apart from  any quota enforcements imposed on him. 

I think we can pick a good RWC squad. We have nz and possibly Ireland to beat to reach semi finals. 

We have a shot, but there are some weak points in personnel. Personnel that was effortlessly handled up north. This is the NHs best chance to win a WC since 2003. The SH looks like a crumbling empire. Even NZ, finally, are succumbing to the SANZAR madness. 

Your memory has gone negative again - bad news.   In 2016 De Allende made 80 tackles and  missed  20.   Ask Mozart what missed tackle ratio that is,  He had a missed  tackle ratio of 20,   That I always said is too high - it should really be around  15 in the case of a top class tackler.

However,  of the 20 missed tackles were in 2 games - the other 8 games he played in his missed tackle ratio was 11.  I said he had a poor tackle problem in one game and I would add a second one as well.   That does not make for  the general statement : that he was "weak in every test: and is just another of your totally deluded statements,.   

In 2017 he was under 15 and Esterhuizen well over that figure.  You are caught out again as taking utter BS and making person al attacks on players.      

In 2016 Damian made 50 tackles. 35 were made (with varying levels effectiveness - he doesn't tackle strongly) and 15 were missed. His tackles for that season were 3/0, 1/2, 9/4, 2/1, 1/4, 14/2, 5/2. Some very low tackles counts and one anomaly which spikes his percentage. 

Juan made 23 tackles. 18 were successful and 5 were unsuccessful. His tackles for that season were 8/1, 5/3, 5/1. 

Always a pleasure Lügnerin. 

 In your opinion sheister,  I have seen enough tackles made by De Allender where the player was knocked back by him.   Youi made a remark about 205 liar and I checked that one.  I never looked  2016 and 2017.

However since Fatso played for 20  minutes from the bench in one test and  Esterhuizen did not play in any tests the real comparison to be made was 2018,.   Enough said.   

I would rather not be tackled by either Steyn or Esterhuizen - they specialize in illegal tackles and Steyn was banned for five weeks in 2015 Super Rugby and the card on yellow card on Saturday was not the first one he got for head high tackles.     .

In 2018 Esterhuizen's defence was markedly better. Damian is too weak in the upper body to knock anyone back in the tackle. He is a often worn like a cape as the attacker gets behind him. Andre stops route one runners, from a standing position, dead in their tracks. Whether it was big George North, Toomua, Kerevi or any forward in the game. He handles them comfortably. 

If you think there are better tackles from Damian in 2018, go find them in my video. I posted time stamps in the comments section. This is why I did that video; I knew you'd be lying for years to come. My counter-measure was to make b oth player's entire season available at all times to scrutinise your heinously malformed verbal assaults. 

EDIT: Neck high tackle. Hand on the neck. 

Listen AO - I am serious now on asking you a question.  Do you really know what you wrote is factual?   You carry on about weak upper body strength - but when Steyn played against De Allende in a Super Rugby game he landed on his backside twice in one game.   Where did you get that upper body strength story from?

How come it normally take two or more players to tackle De Allende if he had a weak upper body as you claim?

Your videos are selected carefully to try and prove what you say is true - no objectivity and no show of anybody else to prove that you make real remarks about rare incidents.  I do not need your biased videos to prove anything. 

Esterhuizens tackle on Foley was cracking. Turned him inside out. 

Andre was unlucky that Banks was SLIPPING as he hit him. 

Starting to wonder if some of the folks here have ever laced up??

Did Duh Allende display upper body strength when Mike Brown made him his bitch not once but twice during the English summer tour 

Duh Allende is a good finisher as he does have a strong leg drive. Play him at 11 giving a crashball option on the inside shoulder off 10 at scrum and line outs.

When 11 and 12 become crash options off 10 it will fix the defensive line, any plays out the back to 15 on the curve should give him the corner to go or fix and feed to 13.

 I believe he would've made a better wing in the Savea mould than a center as his distribution is not the greatest. 

A world cup year is not the time to experiment with the idea and so that ship might have sailed.

You leave me stunned Xavi. I never thought in a thousand lifetimes I'd hear those words come from another human being. The first time I said those things it more than ruffled a few feathers!