Morne is my hero, I will not forsake him.

if there was ever enough evidence that Morne Steyn has completely lost the plot then it is today.

He is there to kick goals, well it has to be, when your gameplan does not utilise frontfoot ball, counter attack ball or first phase ball to attack defences then you are pretty much reliant on your goal kicker to provide the goods.

June 9, 2012 England
Steyn kicks 4/7 scoring 12 points missing 7

June 16, 2012 England
Steyn kicks 5/9 scoring 13 points missing 10

June 23, 2012 England
Steyn kicks 3/6 scoring 9 points missing 8

August 18, 2012 Argentina
Steyn kicks 5/5 scoring 12 points

August 25, 2012 Argentina
Steyn kicks 4/6 scoring 11 points missing 6

September 8, 2012 Australia
Steyn kicks 3/4 scoring 8 missing 3

September 15, 2012 New Zealand
Steyn kicks 1/5 scoring 3 points missing 11

Total kicking accuracy for the season 25/42 - 59.5%

Add to his kicking woes the fact that his tactical kicking has been too deep for wings to chase, he plays so far behind the advantage line that his recievers get ball behind the gainline and are then smothered with no space, the fact that he does not possess of the required pace to hit a gap and he is not where he is supposed to be to control the attack.

Is there any coach in international coach who will persist with a goal kicker that has this record?

I don't care whether Goosen doesn't have enough game time, he has shown he isn't afraid to attack, the ball is quiker and cleaner into the hands, he attacks from flat and there is life in the backline.

Meyer your hero is done, pull the plug.

Sounds like you will foresake him

Goosen looked sharp Biltong, certainly all is not lost for SA. Get Lambie at FB and you have real attacking threats.

Can't wait for the return fixture

Ruan Pienaar was equally a problem with wasteful and pointless kicks when the boks had real momentum. Steyn had a bad day with the boot, but FB Stadium is notorious for that.

It was naiive coaching to play a kicking/pressure game against the best aerial back three in world rugby, at a stadium where the best in the world find a simple 3 pointer a struggle.

The good news for SA is that there is a lot of depth in most positions and genuine options about which style to adopt, so I think is not a problem to build a competitive combinator, just a matter about get the right coach!

Pienaar should have been kicking for the whole 4N, steyn was abysmal vs England

Well, Pienaar has been disappointing to say the least, he has been pedantic at the ruck and I agree with AWOP, his tactical kicking has been poorer than Hougaard who isn't a kicking half

Biltong wrote:Well, Pienaar has been disappointing to say the least, he has been pedantic at the ruck and I agree with AWOP, his tactical kicking has been poorer than Hougaard who isn't a kicking half

Thought that king Richie was superb and I dont think we've heard the last of Mr Greyling,I thought he should have had a red card

King Richie is always superb

Mehrts is god wrote:

Biltong wrote:Well, Pienaar has been disappointing to say the least, he has been pedantic at the ruck and I agree with AWOP, his tactical kicking has been poorer than Hougaard who isn't a kicking half

Thought that king Richie was superb and I dont think we've heard the last of Mr Greyling,I thought he should have had a red card

Yeah, I hope Greyling gets such a long ban that by the time his ban is over Meyer will have completely forgotten about him.

Biltong wrote:

Mehrts is god wrote:

Biltong wrote:Well, Pienaar has been disappointing to say the least, he has been pedantic at the ruck and I agree with AWOP, his tactical kicking has been poorer than Hougaard who isn't a kicking half

Thought that king Richie was superb and I dont think we've heard the last of Mr Greyling,I thought he should have had a red card

Yeah, I hope Greyling gets such a long ban that by the time his ban is over Meyer will have completely forgotten about him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exKaV8vyJA8

Should be a long ban for this.

Greyling is an idiot, firstly the first thing he did when he came on was to give away a penalty, then by all means if the referee isn't going to sort out the ruck with McCaw playing the ball on the wrong side of the ruck then take him away, drag him, drive him off the ball or pull him out sideways with force, but when that is done why dive into him with a leading elbow to his face.

Fecking idiot.

You missed that he gave away the penalty to deny SA a bonus point and end any chance of winning the tournament...

I'll bet you're feeling a little better about the 10 thing now biltong. Pity it took the AB match to end Steyns monopoly on the 10 pos (as I knew it would :-) but think of what can happen next few matches. Still away to go but a start.

I sure wish SA would recognise when its time to end international careers. Its unfair that Steyns career has to end this way and its similar to Smit, who also continued to play on despite being off form and with far better players on the bench.

This subscription to things other than actual form has to end to avoid these embarrassing endings to otherwise excellent careers. JDV will be next. Meyer will keep him on to see goosen and tat has some merit but only to a point.

Personally I think its the stadium.... remember when JW played ARG in that stadium 1 year ago... perhaps its the air currents in the enclosed stadium???

Some of Morne's kicks look spot on and then turned cruely at the last min... very bizarre.

Morne is still a very good player... Morne has the skill but perhaps the confidence has gone a little which can turn a great kicker into a complete liability. I think its wrong to right him off but if he can't get back to his 5/6 success rate then I agree, whats the point.

I still think he has a place in the squad but would rather see Lambie in at 10 rather than Goosen at this stage for the last 2 matches. SA need victories at home... Lambie is a proven performer, kicks well and a well conditioned test player.

Goosen, the great talent he is still needs time.

Goal kicking is a problem for the best in that Stadium,not just M.Steyn and was on Saturday too.Most of the attempts were way out 50 metres or more,many teams would`nt have attempted them.9,10 and 15 were all just kicking the ball away not just M .Steyn.Hoougaard/Lambie would be better combo than Piaanar/Goosen.You obviously don`t trust your line out otherwise you would be kicking to the corners.You have plenty of drop kickers who can keep the score board ticking over why not use them?

Goal kicking is a problem for the best in that Stadium,not just M.Steyn and was on Saturday too.Most of the attempts were way out 50 metres or more,many teams would`nt have attempted them.9,10 and 15 were all just kicking the ball away not just M .Steyn.Hoougaard/Lambie would be better combo than Piaanar/Goosen.You obviously don`t trust your line out otherwise you would be kicking to the corners.You have plenty of drop kickers who can keep the score board ticking over why not use them?

fa0019 wrote:Personally I think its the stadium.... remember when JW played ARG in that stadium 1 year ago... perhaps its the air currents in the enclosed stadium???

Some of Morne's kicks look spot on and then turned cruely at the last min... very bizarre.

.

It is a bit odd especially considering these points:

- Last year it was the ball from memory JW was complaining about. SA mentioned they had no problems with the ball as Steyn was hitting 80-90% with it.
- At ITM so far 16 form 17 have gone over and I believe it was high 60's during sxv
- Goosen's and a couple of Crudens went straight as yet both Cruden and Steyn had kicks rip visciously to the right at the end.

Some have said its only bad when its a full stadium but that sounds illogical- surely the amount of CO2 being exhaled cant make that much of a diff?

The real difference between this and every other stadium in the world (not covered) is you dont get natural flow of air in the stadium at the top so there could be something in that. Someone would need to compare the flow between covered and uncovered stands...bags not me!

The corners are open aren't they? To allow fresh air in for grass growth, which kinda makes sense. What if cold heavier air seeps in from these openings and the warmer air fed by floodlights and people breathing rises and causes a thinner layer forming about the height where the ball behaves like a UFO?

ebop wrote:The corners are open aren't they? To allow fresh air in for grass growth, which kinda makes sense. What if cold heavier air seeps in from these openings and the warmer air fed by floodlights and people breathing rises and causes a thinner layer forming about the height where the ball behaves like a UFO?

Personally, I think it was the one armed man...

ebop wrote:The corners are open aren't they? To allow fresh air in for grass growth, which kinda makes sense. What if cold heavier air seeps in from these openings and the warmer air fed by floodlights and people breathing rises and causes a thinner layer forming about the height where the ball behaves like a UFO?

Can you repost this to my "Forsyth Barr" conspiracy thread. Nobody over there believed me. But it is true that it is probably the design of the stadium that causes the vortex of disrupted air that makes goal kicking next to impossible.

No amount of ball switching can solve that problem unfortuantely, no matter how long you get suspended for.