All Blacks brace for the boot

All Blacks coach Graham Henry has called for the value of a penalty to be reduced from three to one. Photo / Getty Images

DURBAN - South Africa have shown their hand - they will kick the leather off the ball in this weekend's Tri-Nations rugby test.

Now the All Blacks must find a way to overcome it.

The debate over who would wear the Springboks No 10 jersey in Durban on Sunday morning (NZT) ended when Morne Steyn was named ahead of Ruan Pienaar, who has been left out of the squad altogether.

Steyn has forged his reputation on a long kicking game and deadly accuracy when kicking for goal or attempting dropped goals - something he was never afraid to do with the Super 14 champion Bulls.

When told Steyn was starting ahead of the more attack-minded Pienaar, All Blacks coach Graham Henry spoke of getting the International Rugby Board to reduce the value of penalties from three to one.

When laughter from the South African press corps died away, Henry continued with a grimmer tone.

"Seriously, he is a very good kicker of the ball - one of the best in the world, if not the best in the world right now. I think he might kick the ball a bit more (than Pienaar), he will play in the pocket a bit more so he has got the opportunity to kick it - a bit more time."

While the Springboks' style is easy to predict, stopping it is fraught with problems as opponents found against a Bulls side adopting the same tactics late in the Super 14.

South African coach Peter de Villiers said Pienaar was being "managed" after spraining his ankle early in the 28-19 win at Bloemfontein, where he missed four of five shots at goal. Steyn replaced him at halftime, landing three from four. A sideline conversion that sailed wide was the first miss of his five-test career.

The Bloemfontein crowd last weekend left nobody in doubt about who should start at ABSA Stadium, with chants of "Ole, ole, ole, ole - Morne, Morne", becoming louder as the test wore on.

There are two changes on the Springboks' reserve bench, with lock Andries Bekker replacing loose forward Ryan Kankowski and centre Adrian Jacobs filling the bench spot previously occupied by Steyn.

With no specialist first five-eighth cover, it is likely fullback Fracois Steyn would shift to the playmaking role if Morne Steyn was injured.

- NZPA