Boks retain Steyn for Australia rugby Test

South Africa have retained the team that outplayed New Zealand for a Tri-Nations Test against Australia at Newlands on Saturday.

There had been widespread media speculation that coach Peter de Villiers would recall fit-again fly-half Ruan Pienaar in place of Tri-Nations record breaker Morne Steyn.

More expansive Pienaar is the preferred first choice of De Villiers, the first black coach of the Springboks, but injuries have opened the door for leading 2009 Super 14 points scorer Steyn this season.

Stepping in last Saturday, Steyn scored all the points in a 31-19 victory, overtaking an Andrew Mehrtens record and enabling South Africa to defeat their fiercest rivals on consecutive weekends for the first time in 33 years.

Steyn converted his try and slotted eight penalties in a goal kicking master class marred only by a stoppage-time kick at the posts that veered narrowly wide in a swirling wind.

The Northern Bulls pivot also knocked over a long-range penalty with the final kick of the game to give the Boks an unassailable 2-0 lead over the British and Irish Lions in Pretoria two months ago.

But for all the heroics of Steyn, De Villiers favours a less-structured approach than 2007 World Cup-winning predecessor Jake White and views the flair of Pienaar as a key component.

Pienaar did score a try when the Boks defeated the All Blacks 28-19 in Bloemfontein two weeks ago only to anger local supporters by failing with four of five kicks at goals.

An ankle injury forced him to retire at half-time and Steyn came on to land two penalties and add to a reputation that led one South African newspaper to brand him the fly-half best suited to capitalise on the Bok talent.

The South African recipe for success against the All Blacks was brutally simple: apply constant forward pressure to force opposition into conceding penalties and leave rest to the boot of Steyn.

De Villiers calmed instant media worship of Steyn by saying the fly-half can improve his game considerably, including getting the backline away quicker and creating more space.

"That he has a brilliant foot must not blind us to think that he can deliver total rugby. There are still a lot of things that he can improve," stressed the coach.

Australia surrendered a 10-point advantage when losing 22-16 to New Zealand in the opening match of the annual southern hemisphere championship in Auckland and name their team Thursday.

South Africa (15-1)

Francois Steyn; JP Pietersen, Jaque Fourie, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana; Morne Steyn, Fourie du Preez; Pierre Spies, Juan Smith, Heinrich Brussow; Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield; John Smit (capt), Bismarck du Plessis, Tendai Mtawarira

Replacements: Chiliboy Ralapelle, Jannie du Plessis, Andries Bekker, Danie Rossouw, Ricky Januarie, Ruan Pienaar, Adrian Jacobs