Where does Frans fit?

It's obvious....he is a flyhalf and the natural successor to Butch James and Honibal. He is the only player we have at 10 capable of carrying the ball into the massive traffic the RWC will have as norm. If we don't choose Frans, we wont have lightweight runners like Swiel or Goosen, we will have kickers like Lambie, Boshoff or Morne. And in that sense we will be a well read book. That's my view here is another from 365:

Where does Frans fit?

A rather pleasant headache

One of the toughest decisions facing Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer this year is where to play the Swiss army knife of South African rugby - Frans Steyn.

Steyn has always been something of an enigma since he burst onto the Springbok frame in 2006 as a freakishly talented 20-year-old who believed he could do just about anything he wanted with a rugby ball.

Having made his debut on the wing and featuring at inside centre at two World Cups, Steyn has played in every backline position for the Boks except scrumhalf in the course of his 53 Test caps.

Since his return to the Sharks from France in 2012 Steyn has spent most of his time on the sidelines through injury, but this year under his old mentor Jake White he is looking fit and hungry.

White has used him mainly at inside centre for the Sharks, although he has impressed in his cameos at flyhalf when Pat Lambie and Fred Zeilinga got injured, and his booming boot adds another dimension no matter what position he plays.

Although some may say that he is not the player he once was, with increased age and size making him a far more direct player who relies heavily on his physicality rather than guile, one person who should be getting quite excited is Meyer.

The Springbok coach certainly values the qualities that Steyn has to offer, but will have to do some serious thinking about where the versatile former 'wunderkind' fits into his team.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Steyn's game this year has been his maturity under pressure and leadership, which will definitely appeal to Meyer who understandably places a high value on discipline and experience.

Meyer named Steyn at inside centre in his first Test in charge of the Boks in Durban in June 2012, and the most obvious call would be to put him back there alongside skipper Jean de Villiers who is equally capable in both midfield positions.

However, this would mean breaking up the record-breaking partnership of De Villiers and Jaque Fourie who got reacquainted on tour in Europe at the end of last year. Fourie will not be available for all of the Bok Tests this year, so it is likely that Meyer will try out a few different centre combinations to look at his options for the World Cup next year.

The chances of Steyn playing as an outside back seem pretty slim as he does not have the pace he once did and it is hard to see Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen and Willie le Roux being displaced in the starting line-up.

That leaves flyhalf as a final starting option, and it is not as far-fetched as you might think. With Pat Lambie injured, Johan Goosen struggling to assert himself in Super Rugby this year and Morné Steyn getting limited game-time with Stade Francais it could be an interesting calculated  risk for Meyer to give him the No.10 jersey in one of the upcoming Tests against Wales or Scotland to see how he goes.

Steyn's versatility could well see him start on the bench to give Meyer's side some late impetus, although that may negate the strength of his long-range goal-kicking as most of those opportunities will come in the first hour of the game before defence's have started to tire.

Whatever your view on Steyn and how he should be used by the Springboks there is no doubting that he is giving Meyer a rather pleasant headache at the moment as he considers how to fit him into the team that beat everyone except the All Blacks last year.

There is only one spot for Frans and that is exactly where Jake is playing him at 12. He does not have enough speed for 15 or 13 and does not have the rugby instincts of a 10.

He always always been a little slow from hand to foot as shown in his charge down this last weekend.

His strength is his physicality and ability to put players into space. That is needed more at 12 than anywhere else. Frans is a 12, always has been and Jake is 100% right in playing him there.

Neither the Sharks nor the Boks need him at 10 - we have Lambie, Goosen, Swiel, Jantjies, Boshoff and Pollard as options at 10

At 12, Jean is a spent force, with Serfontein as the real deal to take over. Frans needs to battle it out with Jan for that 12 spot, with youngsters like Frans Venter and Andre Esterhuizen pushing.

For the Boks......Goosen and Lambie as our 10's with Serfontein and Frans as our 12 options......its simple really

Jean is a spent force....now where did I hear that before? Oh yes, from you last year Dave.....just before he had a great test season. Jean is still 10 times better than Steppie.

Your logic also gets you to Steyn at 12, where he can offload. But he can't go any closer to the scrum because he is "slow from hand to foot". So we play him at 12, presumably off the bench because Steppie is your first choice. So we lose the option of 60 metre kicks,  t he benefit of a kicker who can put the ball over the defence and a runner that has the strength to offload while being tackled by Kieran Reid....and your flyhalf no doubt is Goosen or perhaps on the evidence of one break Swiel.

Somehow I'm not persuaded.

Yes Jean is done, it had to come, he is getting on now. He had a solid enough year last year and I said as much. Was he special, not even close.

Serfontein offers far more energy, talent and clout. Its time to move on. Yes Frans would be on my bench with Serfontein starting at 12.

I am not interested in 60m kicks when Frans cant even clear the line under pressure from 10. So I would select the more attacking minded Serfontein at 12, who is blessed with better attacking skills than Frans.

Without doubt, Goosen would be my starting 10 with Lambie as the back-up. Swiel has the talent to challenge but not yet, for now a good run with the Sharks will stand him in good stead.

I could not begin to make the kind of selections you make, the kind that Meyer makes and never gets us past NZ.......its too conservative and never looks threatening enough for the Kiwi's

How on earth can you begin to believe we would challenge the Kiwi's with a bunch of old farts like Habana, Jean, Morne, du Preez, Steenkamp, Bakkies, Matfield, Louw, Schalk etc......its laughable.

The Kiwi's have the perfect model.......they choose the best 15 regardless of age and supplement that 15 with the best youngsters about.......we don't see the likes of Fourie, du Preez, Bakkies, Steenkamp and Matfield brought back from the ashes.......this model is so obviously flawed