A great mentor, but Steyn should face Lions as a last resort

The growing hype around Morné Steyn as the series against the British & Irish Lions draws nearer should be concerning to those who remember how Allister Coetzee was pilloried for bringing Steyn back into the Springbok team in 2016.

Or at least it would be were it not for a couple of qualifications that should be included in the above paragraph. The statement should be reworked to say that it would be a concern if Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber were not in charge of Bok fortunes. And it would be concerning if Steyn was going to be in the frame for anything other than a possible Stephen Donald role in the series.

Donald was the flyhalf All Black coach Graham Henry had to call away from a fishing trip to be part of the 2011 Rugby World Cup final against France. Donald had not played for the All Blacks for a couple of years but was sent an SOS because of a freakish run of injuries to the New Zealand pivots. He ended up becoming a hero by kicking an important penalty.

Had Donald been mentioned as a possible starting choice for the Rugby World Cup, Kiwi fans would probably have felt the same feeling of disquiet I do every time critics rave about Steyn. But in the end they would have been pleased he was there to help out when New Zealand found themselves in a hole.

That’s Steyn’s possible role in the Lions series. But hopefully no more than that. For let’s not forget the reasons Coetzee was criticised for bringing Steyn back to be the director in a game plan that was ultraconservative and a step backwards. That was five years ago.

I was one of Steyn’s biggest supporters when he was pressing for a place in the previous Bok series against the Lions in 2009. It will be recalled Ruan Pienaar, normally a scrumhalf, was coach Peter de Villiers’a first-choice No 10 even though Steyn was in magnificent form for a Bulls team that comfortably won the Super 14.

As it turned out, Steyn was on the field as a replacement in the second half of the second Test at Loftus when the Boks were presented with a penalty inside their own half after the hooter. Steyn kicked it and he was entered into rugby folklore as the man who won the series.

He can do that again, but he will only be a match-winner if he is on the field as a replacement. For 12 years on he is not the player he was then and I wouldn’t rate the Bok chances of being in with a chance of winning the series if he is the starting flyhalf in the first Test.

That is not to say he is not doing a great job for the Bulls. That he is considered the best of the local-based flyhalves actually vindicates the decision by Jake White’s predecessor to bring him back and underlines why a player with his experience is necessary. For every other local flyhalf is callow, if you want to be blunt, or promising if you want to be kinder.

Jordan Hendrikse made a pleasing debut for the Lions against the Stormers. But he is just 19 and doesn’t have enough mileage to be considered a Bok contender. Kade Wolhuter, who is a similar age, looked an accomplished and mature youngster before he was injured playing for the Stormers, but again there is that operative word — youngster. And the Sharks’ Curwin Bosch is arguably still carrying too many potential weaknesses in his game for him to be a realistic choice.

The reality is that for the Boks to stand any chance against the Lions it is imperative the overseas-based first choices Handré Pollard and Elton Jantjies both stay fit, with Steyn at best looking a possible third or fourth backup in an extended squad.

In the meantime, Steyn is providing his Bulls understudy Chris Smith with the invaluable mentorship the young flyhalves at the other franchises lack. Bulls coach White seldom plays Steyn for a full 80 minutes. When he does not start with Smith, he is not afraid to send the former Matie onto the field for the decisive moments of a tight game.

He did that when the Bulls broke a long Newlands drought with Smith kicking the winning goal in the Currie Cup in 2020, again in the domestic final and again last week against the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium.

When Steyn was playing ahead of Manie Libbok, now at the Sharks, the Bulls were criticised, but under White we are getting to see what a proper mentorship should look like. Smith will benefit. Young opposition flyhalves should also benefit from playing against such an experienced player. But if Steyn gets to play for the Boks again, it should at best be with a No 22 on his back and only as a last resort, not as the No 10.