Steyn adds insult to injury for Rose
Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:53
Lions flyhalf Earl Rose, who had a nightmare of a match in the Lions' 20-34 loss to the Sharks at the weekend, had salt rubbed into his already 'festering' wounds when Blue Bulls rival Morné Steyn overtook him in first place on the Currie Cup points scorers' list.
Rose, who managed to slot just one from four attempts at goal and missed two crucial penalties at a time when the Lions were still looking a good bet, has been leading the scorers list for most of the season.
He was also the first player past 100 points, but Steyn - who scored 14 points in the Blue Bulls' 58-22 win over Griquas - has now raced past him.
Lions’ coach Eugene Eloff was careful not to apportion blame on his flyhalf alone, but alluded to the player's errant boot and poor form as one of the reason's for his team's defeat.
"The Sharks capitalised on our mistakes," Eloff said.
"We made three crucial mistakes and that gave them 21 points. That was the difference between winning and losing."
Captain Cobus Grobbelaar also refused to point fingers at his flyhalf - who, apart from his poor goal-kicking, made some glaring errors, gifting the Sharks with two soft tries when his kicks out of hand went directly to opposition players who both scored from those turn-overs.
"Yes, we were unfortunate with the kicking; Earl [Rose] tried his best and sometimes the boots are on, sometimes not."
Steyn certainly capitalised on Rose's erratic form and now stands tall on the points scorers' list.
Top points-scorers:
167 – Morné Steyn (Blue Bulls)
164 – Earl Rose (Lions)
102 – Conrad Barnard (Griquas)
84 – Chris Rossouw (Free State Cheetahs)
75 – Willem de Waal (Western Province)
Top try-scorers:
8 – MJ Mentz (Griquas)
7 – Jacques Botes (Sharks)
6 – Bjorn Basson (Griquas),
Keegan Daniel (Sharks), Andries Bekker (Western Province), Doppies la Grange (Lions), Michael Killian (Lions), John Mametsa (Blue Bulls), Tiger Mangweni (Blue Bulls), Wynand Olivier (Blue Bulls)
5 – Waylon Murray (Sharks), Earl Rose (Lions), Jaco Pretorius (Lions), Ernie Kruger (Falcons), Jongi Nokwe (Cheetahs)
4 – Danwel Demas (Boland Cavaliers), JP Pietersen (Sharks), Marius Delport (Blue Bulls), Wikus van Heerden (Blue Bulls), Akona Ndungane (Blue Bulls), Willie Wepener (Lions), Rayno Benjamin (Lions), Dewald Pretorius (Falcons), Fabian Juries (Cheetahs), JW Jonker (Cheetahs), Sireli Naqelevuki (WP), Sarel Pretorius (Griquas)
3 – John Daniels (Boland Cavaliers), Elgar Watts (Boland Cavaliers), Chris Jordaan (Sharks), Albert van den Berg (Sharks), Deon Carstens (Sharks), Rouan Cloete (Falcons), Johan Jackson (Falcons), Derick Kuün (Blue Bulls), Pedrie Wannenburg (Blue Bulls), Robert Ebersohn (Cheetahs), Kabamba Floors (Cheetahs), Wilton
Pietersen (Cheetahs), Hendro Scholtz (Cheetahs), Jean de Villiers (WP), Tonderai Chavhanga (WP), Wylie Human (WP), Franco van der Merwe (Lions), Jano Vermaak (Lions), Jaco van Schalkwyk (Lions), Lukhanyo Nontshinga (Lions)
