Cape Town – Frans
Steyn seems a crucial step closer now to the possibility that he emulates
record-holding Os du Randt later this year … as a second Springbok to boast two
World Cup-winning medals.
READ: Bok ratings: Give that No 9 … a nine!
If the
current Boks, amassing a tidy head of steam for RWC 2019 after Saturday’s
handsome 35-17 downing of Australia in the Rugby Championship at Ellis Park, manage to lift the Webb Ellis Cup again and veteran utility back
Steyn is part of the mix, he would join iconic prop Du Randt with that status.
Considering
that the front-ranker earned his medals 12 years apart (1995 and 2007),
French-based Steyn would also sport that precise feat, as he would be adding
2019 honours to his own 2007 laurel.
There are
many bridges for the national team yet to cross – both as a collective force
and as individuals – in pursuit of that tournament-winning objective, of
course, but the 32-year-old’s eye-opening zest in almost half an hour off the
bench at inside centre in Johannesburg at very least revealed that the
sometimes lengthily-absent international is a serious contender to be on the
plane to Japan later in the year.
For all his
versatility, which makes him a sound fullback option too, Steyn suddenly, timeously
hikes quite considerably the resources available to head coach Rassie Erasmus
in the one area (arguably) where more questions than compelling answers
continue to present themselves: the midfield.
While it
seems that Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am, who were part of the earliest wave
of Bok personnel flown over to New Zealand several days ago to begin
preparations for this Saturday’s massive clash with the All Blacks in
Wellington (09:35 SA time), are earmarked for Nos 12 and 13 respectively at the
Cake Tin, Steyn’s vigour and appetite against the Wallabies draws him back much
closer to the starting picture himself – something he has not done since as far
back as 2012.
A place
among the substitutes again appears the likeliest bet for the player if he
cracks the match-day 23 against New Zealand, but that occurrence would also raise
the stakes for Stormers stalwart De Allende, especially, to produce an
assertive showing as the incumbent of the inside channel.
The
27-year-old occupied the berth in all four Bok end-of-year tour fixtures in
2018, and appears to remain the premier choice in Erasmus’s mind as things
stand – explaining his early flight to NZ among a batch of “A-teamers” who
missed the Wallaby tussle.
Buoyed by
the dynamic overall display of the experiment-driven combo against Australia,
South Africa look to be building healthy depth in virtually all departments; there
will clearly be little luxury for “passengers” over the next few weeks of Test
activity which will be hugely influential in narrowing down the World Cup
squad.
But an
exception, you could argue, is both centre berths, despite the good levels of
experience caps-wise from the likes of De Allende and Jesse Kriel, in
particular, but also the gradually mounting tallies of Sharks-based duo Am and
Andre Esterhuizen.
No single
player from that group can truly claim to have nailed down a Test midfield
starting spot.
The trend
continued in the Big Smoke on Saturday, where the Esterhuizen-Kriel alliance veered
more toward the workmanlike than genuinely wowing, despite the more notable
excellence in several Bok positions elsewhere.
Brawny unit
Esterhuizen also did himself no favours by earning a yellow card for a reckless
high tackle in the first half, a period in which the Boks leaked a try while
their 14-man defence was overly stretched.
South Africa
still look a bit short of “knife through butter” attacking oomph at centre, and
De Allende and Am get their opportunity now – at least that is the selection expectation – to offer up doses of that missing quality against the world champions.
While Steyn
is hardly the most subtle animal himself as a midfielder, his directness and
physicality almost invariably sucks in defenders to create opportunities beyond
him in the backline, so any outside centre in alliance with him has the potential
to play off him productively – he is a decent creator, when not bashing it up
himself, through his strong and long passing.
The
Montpellier man lurking with renewed intent is excellent as a gee-up for the
broad Bok midfield arsenal …
Bok squad for remainder of Rugby Championship:
Forwards (21): Schalk Brits (Bulls), Marcell Coetzee (Ulster, Ireland), Lood de Jager (Bulls), Thomas du Toit (Sharks), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Stormers), Rynhardt Elstadt (Toulouse, France), Eben Etzebeth (Stormers), Lizo Gqoboka (Bulls), Steven Kitshoff (Stormers), Vincent Koch (Saracens, England), Francois Louw (Bath, England), Frans Malherbe (Stormers), Malcolm Marx (Lions), Bongi Mbonambi (Stormers), Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks), Franco Mostert (Gloucester, England), Trevor Nyakane (Bulls), Marvin Orie (Lions), Kwagga Smith (Lions), RG Snyman (Bulls), Duane Vermeulen (Bulls)
Backs (15): Lukhanyo Am (Sharks), Damian de Allende (Stormers), Faf de Klerk (Sale Sharks, England), Andre Esterhuizen (Sharks), Warrick Gelant (Bulls), Elton Jantjies (Lions), Herschel Jantjies (Stormers), Cheslin Kolbe (Toulouse, France), Jesse Kriel (Bulls), Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks), Sbu Nkosi (Sharks), Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz, Japan), Handré Pollard (Bulls), Cobus Reinach (Northampton Saints, England), Frans Steyn (Montpellier, France)
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