August 06 2009 at 07:25AM

By Ashfak Mohamed

Springbok legend and current kicking coach Percy Montgomery has hailed sweet-swinging Morne Steyn’s heroics against the All Blacks, while he says that Ruan Pienaar can improve his goal kicking by getting his “mindset” right.

Steyn has been in terrific form with the boot this season at the Bulls and the Springboks. He was the leading points-scorer in the Super 14 with 191, 50 ahead of All Black pivot Stephen Donald. And just last week he produced 31 points, a Tri-Nations record, as the Boks beat New Zealand 31-19 in Durban.

Steyn kicked eight penalties, a conversion and scored a try. Montgomery, who retired from international rugby last year after becoming the most-capped Bok Test player (102) and leading points-scorer (893), told the Cape Times yesterday ahead of Saturday’s Tri-Nations clash against the Wallabies at Newlands that Steyn has worked hard to achieve his success.
“Ja, I am happy with how Morne is kicking at the moment, having spent the little time I have with him, Ruan and Frans. Obviously, I can’t coach Morne. At this level, I think that no coach can coach any kicker. I have been down that road myself,” Montgomery said yesterday.

“The biggest thing is just making sure that he gets enough repetition with his kicks and just reminding him about the basics and having fun with him and him having fun with the kicking.

“He has really stood up and taken his chances. For me, it has been really great to see him being in the zone, taking his chances and stepping up to the moment. It just shows that he’s got a bit of BMT, and that’s what it takes to be a number one kicker.”

Pienaar has had a season that is almost the opposite of Steyn’s. He was injured early on for the Sharks during the Super 14, and after missing some early kicks, he was soon replaced by scrumhalf Rory Kockott as the goal kicker.

His injury meant that he missed a large part of the Super 14, which did not allow him to gain momentum going into the international season. He did, however, kick well in the first Lions Test in Durban, slotting five out of six attempts.

But then he missed three kicks at goal in the second Test against the British and Irish Lions in Pretoria, where Steyn replaced him and goaled some big penalties to win the game for the Boks.

Pienaar again missed four out of five kicks in the first Test against the All Blacks in Bloemfontein and was replaced by Steyn at halftime due to an ankle injury. Montgomery said that it is now up to Pienaar to make amends.

“Ruan can definitely get a lot better,” he said. “It’s a mindset, you know. We can only really advise him, but it is up to him to make that decision. Morne’s done it, I did it in Wales, and Naas would even tell you the same. It’s up to him what he wants to do with it.”

Montgomery himself started out as an erratic goal-kicker in the earlier stages of his career, but refined his approach when he joined up with Welsh club Newport Gwent Dragons in 2002. When he returned to the Springbok side in 2004, he had simplified his goal-kicking style to a unique two-step action, which resulted in him becoming a deadly accurate goal kicker.

He feels that Steyn, who had to play a lesser role at the Bulls in the shadow of Derick Hougaard earlier in his career, has travelled a similar path to his own development as a top goal kicker.

“A couple of years ago, Morne was also a 70 percent kicker, which was the same as me before I went to Wales, you know,” he said. “But we weren’t kicking all the time. He has taken the responsibility and said that ‘I want to be the best’, and he has put the hours in and deserves all the credit that comes his way.”

Having only retired from Test rugby last season, Montgomery hasn’t been too long away from the action. He says that he misses playing, but he is glad to help South African rugby. “I am missing my playing days. But being with all my teammates from the World Cup, I think if I had just stopped, I think I would’ve regretted it, not still wanting to play,” he said.

“But I made it clear in my mind that I am happy to finish and now I am just helping rugby, if I can say that, and it is great. I have great management in Dicky, Gary and Peter, and it’s good.”

• This article was originally published on page 16 of Cape Times on August 06, 2009