Steyn gives Boks options

It has been a crazy couple of days for the Boks, with a training camp in humid Johannesburg being quickly swopped for freezing Dublin, and now you could say they are in their fourth different county in as many days as they begin their build-up to Saturday’s match against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

That is one of the reasons that the 23-21 win over Ireland was so meritorious. It was because there had been so many injury problems before they left home, plus of course so much internecine wrangling between management and officials, that for the first time in ages the Boks arrived at a northern hemisphere test match as rank underdogs.

Perhaps they were written off too much, for even before the Aviva Stadium match it was obvious that the Boks did still have a more than decent pack. And when the rain came down before kick-off and during the match, it played into the South African hands for it emphasized the team’s big strength, with it suddenly no longer mattering that the Boks had so many question marks at the back.

As a consequence, the questions over the selection of Zane Kirchner at outside centre were never properly answered. Kirchner did everything asked of him, but the weather meant he was never properly tested by Brian O’Driscoll, who was part of an understandably error-ridden backline and who later admitted that the wide game the hosts employed was not the way to go.

“Only the 30 players who were out there will properly understand just how difficult those conditions were. I suppose you could say that we played the wrong game for the conditions, but we wanted to give it a try,” he said.

The Boks by contrast played the right game for the conditions. It could be argued that their ultra-conservative approach did nothing to answer any questions about their ability to make the changes needed to challenge New Zealand, but right now the main emphasis is on winning. And the rugby that the Boks employed is the rugby that Victor Matfield, who has been so outstanding in every sphere since assuming the captaincy, knows best.

Not that he necessarily intends keeping it that way throughout the tour, for he has hinted that he would like to see the backs get more into the game when the tourists take their next step towards the Grand Slam against Wales at the Millennium Stadium.

“It was important for us to win this game and we played the right game, but the conditions should be drier in Cardiff and I really do believe we have a talented backline,” said Matfield.

“Guys like Gio Aplon and Bjorn Basson have a lot of pace to burn. I am looking forward to seeing what they can do in more suitable conditions.”

The Boks have an extra option they didn’t have in Dublin for this game, and it comes in the form of Frans Steyn, who has been released by Racing Metro now that the November international window is officially open.

The Boks have been here before of course, as recently as five months ago in fact, and one of the ironies of this match is the fact that it was here in June that, in a manner of speaking, Steyn cooked his goose. It was because of a perception that he was off the pace that coach Peter de Villiers dropped Steyn after that game, and he did not see any further action until the home leg of the Tri-Nations.

Steyn was rusty when he did play in the home Tri-Nations tests, so it is going to be interesting to see what he can add now that he should have recovered full match sharpness. What is most interesting is where he will be accommodated, for the Boks were given a clean bill of health by the medical staff when they arrived in Cardiff on Sunday, which means that Jean de Villiers is fit.

Coach De Villiers said after the game that the centre had aggravated the groin injury that nearly kept him from playing in Dublin, but if he is fit the Boks have the option of either playing De Villiers and Steyn together as an inside and outside combination, or bringing in Steyn at No 12 and moving De Villiers to outside centre.