Steyn still my perfect 12

Looking ahead to Saturday’s one-off Test against Italy, former Springbok star Robbie Fleck would still like to see young star Frans Steyn playing at inside centre instead of flyhalf.

The Springboks will be well-pleased with their 2-0 series win over Wales – and they should be.

I said last week that the Welsh would be stronger in the second Test and they were, playing more like the Six Nations champions they are, and it was good to see. The Welsh took plenty from the first Test and you could see they worked hard during the week based on their first-Test shortcomings.

Having said that, the Boks were deserved winners again on Saturday and I thought they played well at times.

Yes, they got a bit loose at times, but it’s positive to see the guys wanting to play this ‘new’ game that Peter de Villiers has been talking about. That, for me, is a huge positive. The mistakes at this stage are understandable and, as a coach, I would not mind my players making a mistake because they’re trying something – rather that than being too scared to try anything.

Some of the Springbok set-piece moves were rather impressive on Saturday. I’m not sure if that is Dick Muir’s influence, but they had some nice-looking moves from scrums and line-outs and I want to see them try those during the Tri-Nations, too.

The challenge now is for the players to build on what they achieved against Wales. It’s no good not trying this new game in the Tri-Nations – the players seem happy with it (their buy-in was always going to be key to this), and the public and the media seem to like it, too.

De Villiers looks to be close to identifying his first-choice line-up ahead of the Tri-Nations and the changes made for this weekend’s Test are all about deciding on those final few spots.

In the absence of John Smit, Bismarck du Plessis will get a rare chance to start a Test, whilst the announcement of Victor Matfield as captain is a very wise move. Bismarck will enjoy his opportunity to start and Schalk Brits will be hoping for a dry track should he get off the bench.

Ryan Kankowski’s selection at No.8 is an exciting one. There really is little to choose between him and Pierre Spies at the back of the scrum and his pace and freakish ability to conjure up some magic with ball in hand should be a real handful for the Azzurri. At the same time, it will give De Villiers an opportunity to decide just who his best No.8 is.

I think the selection of Odwa Ndungane is long overdue. His brother Akona was fortunate to be playing ahead of him, but Odwa stuck at it, producing performance after performance for the Sharks at Currie Cup and Super 14 level. Now he has his chance, which is deserved – just like the selections of Luke Watson and Conrad Jantjes this season after their excellent Super 14 form.

Looking at the rest of the backline, Frans Steyn at flyhalf does not sit too well with me right now. He has the makings of an international No.10, but at the age of 21 and where he is right now in his career, I don’t think it’s the position for him.

Flyhalf is a very structured position. It’s the key position on a rugby field these days – especially in this new, brave Bok gameplan – and it’s up to the No.10 to control and manage those around him.

Steyn, however, tends to do too much on his own. I don’t think he’s a selfish player, but like when I was young and first burst onto the scene at this level, you want the ball in your hands and you want to have a go without really thinking about it properly.

It’s the same as Butch James when he first made his Test debut in 2001. Butch was a fresh-faced youngster who just wanted to hit the ball up all day long – he wasn’t the playmaker he is today. Now, seven years later, he is more experienced and he picks and chooses when to take the ball up – which he does rarely these days – when to go wide, when to kick or when to have a dart.

But Steyn could get away with these ‘shortcomings’ at inside centre. At the World Cup last year – not even 12 months ago! – he was the best inside centre on offer. The kid can kick, run, step and pass, but he is better suited to doing it from the safety of the inside centre channel, where he can mature a bit more still. Then, in a few years’ time, he could move to flyhalf; older, wiser and all the better for it.

Steyn has made the choice himself to be considered as a flyhalf, and you have to credit him for making the choice, but I would really have loved to have seen a 10-12-13 axis of Peter Grant, Frans Steyn and Jean de Villiers in action this weekend.

Jean is probably the best centre in the world right now, but I have reservations over his defence at inside centre – especially with Adi Jacobs on his outside. A 10-12-13 axis of Butch, Steyn and Jean during the Tri-Nations would tick all the boxes on defence and attack and I am a big fan of playing two flyhalves next to each other, like the Kiwis do with their method of first and second five-eighths.

Of course, the weather in Cape Town this week has been pretty miserable, which won’t help things on Saturday.

The Boks will keep it tight and Steyn will probably kick to the corners early on to put his side in the Italian territory and set up good attacking positions.

Januarie will probably also use his boot a bit more than normal and the centres – De Villiers and Gcobani Bobo – will no doubt be called upon to take the ball over the advantage line a few times!

The drainage at Newlands is better than it was ‘in my day’, but no drainage system would provide a dry track after all the rain this past week… The guys will slip and slide out there and the ball will be wet, but I think the weather could actually be bad news for Italy, as the Boks will look after the ball more and make their forages count.

Our UCT side played a ‘situation’ match against the Italians this week. It was good for Dobbo and I to catch up with the likes of Nick Mallett, but it was obvious that whilst they have some promise, I just can’t see the Italians living with the Boks when it comes to physicality. The Boks will chew them up and spit them out!

Fleckie’s prediction: The Boks to win – but the size of the scoreline will depend entirely on the weather.

Enjoy the game,
Fleckie

* Email Fleckie at rugby365@365digital.co.za with any comments.

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