Tough night: Morne Steyn
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Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer admitted he made the "wrong call" to allow Morne Steyn to continue as the goal-kicker in Dunedin.
In a windless and dry indoor facility at the Forsyth Barr Stadium, South Africa's normally failsafe fly-half landed only one of five attempts while Bok center Francois Steyn also missed three penalties.
Young fly-half Johan Goosen landed his only attempt after replacing Morne Steyn late in the second half to cut New Zealand's lead briefly before Aaron Cruden finished with two late goals.
Granted, several of the Steyns' penalties were from long range, but the Springboks potentially left 20 points on the field in what was a defining factor in their 21-11 loss.
"I've always said that I am going to bring Johan Goosen through slowly and give him game time," said Meyer.
"But Johan had struggled with his goal-kicking in training during the week and he is still only 20 years old, and he hasn't played for almost three months.
"I thought he did superbly for the 25 minutes he was on the field. But you don't just change your fly-half for someone to kick - you could also change the goal-kicker.
"We talked about that at half-time. But I thought Morné would hit his rhythm. Sitting here afterwards, it is easy to make calls, but it is a life-and-death situation for me, so maybe I made the wrong call. But Morné usually comes back and kicks well."
Goosen proved yet again that he is able to handle Test rugby, and could be pushing for a starting spot for South Africa's next Test against the Wallabies at Loftus Versfeld on September 30.
"I've always rated Goosen," added Meyer.
"I watched him play as a youngster, and it is a pity he got injured because he was always part of my plan, but I don't want to throw him to the wolves.
"So, last week it was 10 minutes, this week it was 25 minutes. He is a guy with a lot of character and mental toughness.
"But Morné has also shown in the past that he has mental toughness, so it is great to have two fly-halves like that. It's great that Johan is coming through and showing the promise that I believe he has. I will look at the video, take the emotion out of it and maybe make a few hard calls if I have to when we go home."
Comments
darthbok says...
WHAT a shocker -- the boks had the AB`s on the ropes for most of the game -- missed kicks +++++++++++++++++++ -- and they have one of the best kickers in their side ruan Pienaar !!!!!!!! -- he kicks everything for ulster ! --absolutely shambolic -- the AB`s know how they got out of jail there ----------------
Posted 08:45 24th September 2012
tenpm says...
Poor, poor Lambie.
Posted 18:46 23rd September 2012
leebok says...
quality insight there by Mace. Go back to your Playstation.
Posted 16:47 23rd September 2012
RUGBYorDIE says...
"I've always said that I am going to bring Johan Goosen through slowly and give him game time," said Meyer. "But Johan had struggled with his goal-kicking in training during the week and he is still only 20 years old, and he hasn't played for almost three months..........................Goosen wont play many more games if you dont pick him!!
Im over this, NZ are the better team, fact. But they will always be better then us if we keep on sticking with players that arent making things happen!!!
Springbok rugby is suffering, the players feel demotivated as they are wasting time on the bench and thier provinces are suffering too..............
GET YOUR HEAD OUT THE GROUND HM AND CO............. YOURE SPOILING THE GAME FOR ALL OF US..............................besides the AB's of course!
Posted 17:58 19th September 2012
Mace says...
Like PdV said its coz all the players in the boks are WHITE!!! They need a black fly half that can actually KICK, Hahaha and it was F Steyn and M Steyn running their mouths how the indoor stadium and their high veld kicking game suited them. They couldnt even kick each other in their own @rses!!!! Hahaha bokke LOSERS!!!!!!
Posted 09:20 18th September 2012
georgesmith says...
H.Meyer should be ashamed of himself and resign, now that he has admitted it. M. Steyn should now start from the bench and prove himself in the final 15-20mins, if he continues to struggle then no option but to drop him. The fact is M.Steyn is out of form, Springboks have a quality team and would have beaten All Blacks if H. Meyer played the cards right.
I will wait with interest to see what team he names next.
Posted 08:56 18th September 2012
sandal says...
@philipjfry
Exactly.
There is a wealth of evidence from many games.
Posted 07:43 18th September 2012
scot_rsa says...
Just watching a replay, how striking is the difference in body language between Morne Steyn and Goosen? Especially before a place kick. Goosen took his time and shut out the crowd, looked totally at home. Got to feel for Morne, confidence shot. What if he goes back to Currie Cup and just sinks? Think he may need time with a decent coach to rebuild. No chance of that at the Bulls.
Posted 22:47 17th September 2012
noord_transvaal says...
Please H.Meyer, go back to Pretoria and raise a new Bulls team that surely needs you more than the Bokke. give everyone their wish of having a WP starting team with a couple of average Sharks in there. I bet in 3 years time the Bulls will be taking the Super Rugby title back to Pretoria and all the moaners and Bulls haters will still be scratching their heads as to why their beloved team is still rubbish. With the current bokke you have a lot of mediocre players that will not achieve anything. Not whilst there are Bulls around to blame for it all. Yes, Morne has issues and maybe should have quit while he was on top, but what's the excuse for the rest of the team ?
Posted 21:50 17th September 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
HM likes Morne because he fits the monoplan.
Posted 13:57 17th September 2012
philipjfry says...
@sandal: I don't mean to sound smart mate but Stephen Donald's penalty in the WC final came from the French not rolling away.
Posted 13:43 17th September 2012
saffastormer says...
Andries Bekker had 1 bad game in Argentina and gets dropped like a hot potato, but Morne Steyn hasn't had a good game since 2010 and is selected over and over and over and over and over again ? A bit hypocritical don't you think Mr Meyer ?
Posted 12:56 17th September 2012
ben7 says...
Im pretty sure Francois steyn only attempted 2 kicks at goal, not 3. Goosen missed one too btw he got 1/2.
You all know that HM is still going to pick Morne at 10 vs Australia..... "But Morné usually comes back and kicks well."
Put Goosen, Lambie, De Jongh and Bekker in the starting team next match with Sarel Pretorius, Jantjies and Aplon on the bench
Posted 12:50 17th September 2012
Houston_11 says...
"Talk is cheap, money buys whiskey." What a great phrase!
Posted 12:21 17th September 2012
sandal says...
Why did HM need to make the call anyway? Wasn't De Villiers on the field? And wasn't he captain? God, I miss the days when a coach waved his team goodbye as it took the field and had no further contact till the match was over.
Wasn't it Deans who made the call for Beale, and not Cooper, to take the final kick on the Gold Coast, thus over-ruling captain Sharpe?
Surely captains are capable of making the calls. Well, they should make them.
I posted this on another thread, but it is relevant here.
Of the 13 penalty shots at goal in Dunedin, only one, possibly two, penalties were won from pressure that threatened a try. The remaining 12 or 11 were for technical offences.
All Black offences (8 kicks by the Boks):
Not releasing the ball (3)
Not rolling away (2)
Hands in the ruck (1)
Taking out a player in the lineout (1)
Runner crossing in front of the ball carrier (1)
South African offences (5 kicks by the ABs):
Leaving feet in ruck (2)
Not releasing the ball (1)
Not rolling away (1)
Hands in ruck (1)
The only penalty won by pressure on the tryline was awarded to the All Blacks in the 80th minute.
It is unfortunate for the Boks that their kickers fared so badly. But it is fortunate for rugby that this game wasn't decided by an exchange of penalties for technical offences. Do such offences warrant three-point penalties? Does a player in the attacking team, say, 55 metres from his own line, deserve to concede three points because he holds on to the ball at the breakdown for a split second too long?
Either the teams need to acquire greater discipline -- possibly superhuman discipline -- or the rules need a strong tweak.
Posted 12:10 17th September 2012
Ramage says...
Amazing man this Mr Meyer he is saying what everyone else can see or is he? He said he was wrong to leave Steyn as the goal kicker then says Goosen has talent and he will bring him along slowly. hang on there is another young man who has played test rugby Mr Meyer and handled it well and his name in case you have forgotten is L A M B I E. Got it Mr Meyer?
There is a problem though both will be unable to play to your boring game plan of kicking away the ball to the other side who can run it back at you and rely on one of your boofhead forwards to eithe rgive away a penalty or get yellow carded. both players are exciting prospects and what better time could there be to play them now. Get them into the cauldron of test rugby. Most of your forwards have shown they are competitive but your backs Habana apart are hopeless.
Posted 12:02 17th September 2012
bloemboy says...
Interesting that he has completely forgotten that he has another competent place kicker in the squad, that should have run out in the 15 Jersey or could have been the started at 10 as well. What more does Lambie need to do to be noticed? Im a massive Goosen fan, but Pat Lambie should not be forgotten at all.
Posted 11:43 17th September 2012
melkdave says...
Well perhaps he will start with J.Goosen /P.Lambie for the home tests at FH,from reading this article i have to say im unsure on that.All his really said is it was a mistake for M.Styen to continue goalkicking ,and his going to bring J.Goosen on slowly.HM has said nothing about changing the gameplan/style so far,and it would take more than just replacing ome player to do so,and make it effective.Of course replacing M.Styen would be a good start in doing so,as his just to limted Personnally im thinking he is going to persavere with M.Styen,but F.Styen is going to be the primary goalkicker..I really dont thnk HM is going to change tack until the aurtum internationals,and then only slightly by starting qwith J.Goosen .
Posted 11:20 17th September 2012
philipjfry says...
Talk is cheap, money buys whiskey. Is he going to drop him?
Posted 10:53 17th September 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
Strike One...
Posted 09:42 17th September 2012