FRANS STEYN

The Boks veteran has one last season in him - could he win a third World Cup?

- Oliver Keohane

HE WAS only a 20-year-old, Frans Steyn, when he tore through England’s back-line in the pool stage of the 2007 World Cup. He would be called on at inside-centre in that tournament, after Jean de Villiers suffered an injury against Samoa.

His performances throughout that tournament still burn bright in the memory. It was clear from the moment that Steyn pulled on the Bok jersey that South Africa’s next rugby superstar had arrived. Far less believable was that 16 years later he might look ahead to what could be his fourth and final Rugby World Cup.

In 2019, Steyn became the second Springbok to win two World Cups, after legendary prop Os du Randt. He lifted rugby’s most cherished trophy at 20, was part of the squad in 2011, and in different circumstances would have travelled to England in 2015. In a spectacular comeback, he lifted the trophy again at 32.

Last year Steyn made a comment that as long as he was able to play ‘angry’ he would not retire. Asked about how he has maintained such a strong resonance with the game for so long, Steyn responds: “The passion doesn’t die but at some point in your career you realise that rugby is not the only thing. You get married, have kids and realise rugby isn’t everything.