Frans Steyn ready to give back to next generation of rugby stars

The retired Frans Steyn hopes to impart his knowledge gleaned from an illustrious career, onto young South African players trying to cope with the demands of professional rugby.

A two-time World Cup winner, the veteran Springbok and Cheetahs back recently officially announced his retirement from professional rugby, after struggling to recover from a knee injury, ruling him out of a potential fourth World Cup tournament appearance.

He was a crucial part of the SA squads that won the 2007 and 2019 World Cup, while he was also a key member of the rampant Bok team that clinched the British & Irish Lions series and Tri-Nations in 2009.

‘Give back to rugby’

Steyn, a product of the famed Grey College in Bloemfontein, was a prodigiously talented playmaker and in a wide-ranging interview with Rapport newspaper revealed how he aims to still contribute to the sport.

“My two great passions remain rugby and farming, so that’s still what I see on my way forward,” he said. “I want to spend more time on the farm [in Aliwal], but I also want to give back to rugby.

“So at this stage I hope to set up something with which I can help young guys with their big challenges. A guy told me the other day that Grey College has produced almost no Springboks in the last 10 years.

“Stuff like that makes you wonder how you can help guys. I don’t think it’s as easy today as it was a few years ago to get to the top.

“My ideal is to help young guys with their skills and with the psychological demands of the game, because it can only help them to have someone who has been there and can give advice. They are contracted so early and the pressure can be great.

“But there are still a few conversations that need to happen before we can make that happen, because I think we have to be picky about who we get involved with. The country has wonderful rugby people who will be able to help make a difference.”

100 Tests

Having started his international career on the left wing in 2006, Steyn’s 78th and final Test appearance came at flyhalf in the Rugby Championship match against Argentina in Durban last September.

Domestically, the 36-year-old started his career at the Sharks in 2006 and had two stints in Durban, while he also played for Racing 92, Toshiba Brave Lupus and Montpellier overseas, before returning to home to finish his career with the Cheetahs.

He added: “A guy can probably sit and think I wish I could get to 100 Tests, but why focus on that? I was so fortunate, I look back on my career as a great blessing.

“I went to play in Japan and in France, I had my children, I grew up over the years … I had time with my family and still did what I loved – while being paid to do what I loved. I was blessed.

“I’m proud that I’ve had such a long career and I can look back and say I’ve grown up. In the beginning, it was probably more about myself than anything else, and I was probably a bit of a whiner, but that too passed.

“If I could do it all over again, I would do it the same, and maybe even a little worse.”

This story first appeared on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission. For the original story please click here.