South Africa currently has a dearth of top quality fullbacks, with the departure of Francois Steyn opening the position for someone to make their own.

Zane Kirchner has not had a great start to his test career, however I see plenty of potential in the 26 year old to believe he can emulate the rolls royce of fullbacks, Andre Joubert.

Kirchner was born in the Western Cape town of George. At high school he played flyhalf before moving to Fullback in 2002 at the Craven Week.

Kirchner made his Currie Cup debut in 2003 for Griquas, staying with the union until 2007. After moving to the Bulls in 2008, Kirchner’s career has gone from strength to strength, winning 2 Super 14 titles and a Currie Cup title.

Initially I was not that impressed with Kirchner, as he often doesn’t stand out as many great players do. However he is a solid rugby player, who performs the basics exceptionally well, has few weaknesses and above all, his greatest strength is his intelligence.

It is for this reason that I can Kirchner becoming a Springbok great. His test career has started poorly, with a debut against the Lions in the ill-fated third test at Ellis Park (2009),
dropping a high ball that led to Wales scoring a comeback try in Cardiff and indifferent performances against France and Italy so far this season.


The reason I rate Kirchner so highly is because he reminds me of Andre Joubert in so many ways.
He lacks out and out pace, but plays to his strengths exceptionally well:
His positional play is top class, and is rarely out of position
His kicking is solid, with a long boot and great at putting up hanging kicks
His chasing and ability in the air is safe and fearless
His tackling is solid. As the last line of defence that is all you ever want, no one will run over Kirchner who is great with his front on defence

But what will make Kirchner invaluable is his rugby intelligence. His ability to read the game and enter the line (which so many fullbacks fail to do these days) and put other players into space creates so many tries for his outside backs. Just ask Bryan Habana, Francois Hougaard and Gerhard van den Heever who have benefited from playing alongside Kirchner.

After a largely forgettable start his test career, I am certain Kirchner will be a success because he is smart, and that will ensure he has the mental resilience and toughness to recover from an indifferent start and become a truly great South African fullback.