Steyn looking for revenge

Flyhalf would relish clash with Aussies at World Cup

[caption id="attachment_98984" align="alignright" width="199"] PIVOTAL ROLE: Morne Steyn will bring a wealth of experience to the Bok side Picture: GALLO IMAGES -[/caption]

MORNE Steyn can be relied upon to nail a match-winning kick, but getting the backline going is a different task.

The Bok back division is a far cry from the one Steyn played with in the ill-fated test against Australia in Perth last year when his penalty kick crucially did not find touch, from where the Australians scored.

The Bok backline with Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel as centres is exciting, electric and precise; qualities that cannot be associated with Steyn bar the last one from a goalkicking perspective.

After all, it won him two Super Rugby titles, a Currie Cup, a British and Irish Lions series and a Top 14 winners medal with Stade Francais.

In a Bok squad littered with selection controversies, Steyn’s was always going to raise eyebrows, especially in the light of his comparative lack of game time before Jules Plisson’s injury allowed him to blossom.

Not that Steyn, 31, was worried, for he has always been a player who has taken advantage of any opportunity to come his way.

He said: “I’m glad that those last three Top 14 matches were shown in South Africa and the fact that coach Heyneke [Meyer] saw those matches. I then realised that I’m in the [running] for the No 10 jersey.

“With the coach watching all the good flyhalfs in Super Rugby – Handre Pollard, Pat Lambie and Elton Jantjies have been playing awesome rugby – the last couple of Top 14 games gave me the confidence I needed.

“But meeting Australia in a quarterfinal would be a revenge game,” Steyn said. -Khanyiso Tshwaku