Some more opinion to enlighten ccBy Gavin Rich of supersport
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer clearly isn’t overjoyed that his players are back playing Currie Cup rugby when they should be resting, and the hand injury that may have ruled Jannie du Plessis out of the end of year tour has underlined the reasons for his concern.
There is little doubt that, with the semifinals likely to be highly physical, bruising games of rugby, Meyer will be sitting through the remaining 240 minutes of the domestic season with his heart in his mouth and wincing at every collision. With Willem Alberts also doubtful for the tour after the injury sustained against the All Blacks, he doesn’t need any more players ruled out.
However, rugby is about opportunity, and if Meyer looks at it another way there is also reason for him to be pleased that this country has such a tough domestic competition, and that the closing stages are going to be so intense and competitive. For it offers him an opportunity to assess the readiness of players he might like to use in a quest to grow his squad.
Western Province centre Damian de Allende is one player who can force Meyer to take notice with some strong performances in the play-offs, but he may be even more interested in this juncture at two more experienced men. For the knock-out phases of the Currie Cup are an ideal stage for two veterans of the 2007 World Cup win, Schalk Burger and Frans Steyn, to prove their readiness to be part of the trip to Wales, Scotland and France.
It might seem questionable to suggest Burger as a possible tourist when he has only played as a replacement for WP in the Currie Cup season, and only in the last few matches at that. But when he has been on the field he has proven that he has lost none of his old combativeness and physicality, and it is only a matter of time before he regains his mojo fully and is able to play at the highest level.
That moment could well come during the month of November, when the Boks are on tour, and as he is too valuable a player to ignore going forward, Meyer must be thinking seriously of selecting him as part of the group, particularly if Alberts can’t tour.
We have seen what Burger can do, and there has never been any questioning Burger’s focus and commitment on and off the field.
Steyn, now 26 and no longer the precocious 19-year-old who first played for the Boks but by no means an old man in rugby terms, is a different story.
Although the Sharks inside centre returned from a stint playing club rugby in France with high expectations, and all the coaches he played for spoke about how he had matured and was less self-centreed in his approach, his second career in South Africa has failed to take off.
That is partially down to the injuries that have plagued him since he left France last June to return to his homeland. But also because his conditioning on his return just wasn’t up to scratch, and the Sharks’ former coach John Plumtree wasn’t the only South African mentor who has been left aghast at the lack of condition of backline players that return from France.
Considering that it was clear Steyn was carrying extra weight it was perhaps surprising that he was named as the Sharks’ captain when Keegan Daniel was injured at the start of the year. It was a move that didn’t work out simply because Steyn was too ponderous and lethargic to make any impact, and a brief switch of position to fullback didn’t help.
He had been dropped before he sustained the serious leg injury in Dunedin during Super Rugby that has effectively curtailed his rugby year and, but for a brief, ill-fated return that ended in further injury, kept him sidelined until now.
Those of us who haven’t seen Steyn in the flesh recently are going to be extremely interested to see him return to the field in Saturday’s Currie Cup semifinal against the Sharks. Clearly he must have worked hard on his conditioning and he must be sharp, for it would otherwise be a bold decision on the part of Brendan Venter and his Sharks coaches to throw him straight into an important play-off game.
There is no denying that an inform, sharp Steyn can bring immense value to the Boks. Apart from his physical presence at the gainline and his sublime ball skills and pace for such a big man, you also have to factor in his gifted kicking boot. The distance he can attain with both his field kicks and his shots at goal makes him a valuable weapon for any team, and with Pat Lambie playing alongside him, the No 10/No 12 axis could well be what helps the Sharks make up the gap on Cup favourites WP.
But we will have to wait and see what Steyn can bring, both in terms of his condition, which might tell us about his attitude, and his level of sharpness. If the Sharks advance to a final he will have a chance to gather momentum, and his presence should add considerable interest to these closing stages of the domestic competition. And no-one should be any more interested in Steyn’s performances than the national coach.
Here is hoping!
