Who is Morné Steyn: Ten things you should know about the South Africa fly-half

Morné Steyn’s accuracy from the tee has led to a successful career at Test level for South Africa and club level with Stade Francais and the Bulls.

Find out more about the fly-half here…

Ten things you should know about Morné Steyn

1. Morné Steyn was born in Cradock, in the Eastern Cape, about 250km from Port Elizabeth, on 11 July 1984. He was a pupil at Sand du Plessis High School in Bloemfontein.

2. He joined the Bulls straight from school in 2003 and made his Super Rugby debut for the Blue Bulls in 2005, when he was nominated for the Young Player of the Year.

He topped the first-class point-scoring charts that year with 341.

3. Steyn made an immediate impact in the international game. He made his debut off the bench in the first Test in Durban in 2009 against the British & Irish Lions.

He was also a replacement, for Ruan Pienaar, in the second Test in Pretoria and came on, after 61 minutes, to kick the winning penalty from 53m a minute from time. That kick gave the Springboks a 28-25 win and the series.

4. Steyn had helped the Bulls to the Super Rugby title that year when they beat the Chiefs 61-17 in the final at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

He was leading point-scorer in Super Rugby that year with 189 and dropped four goals, a record, in the 36-23 semi-final win over the Crusaders.

5. On his second start for the Springboks, in 2009, Steyn scored all 31 points (one try, one conversion and eight penalties) in a 31-19 win over New Zealand in Durban.

That was the record number of points scored in an International by one player who had contributed all of his side’s points.

6. Steyn passed 100 points for South Africa in just his eighth Test match (three of them were as a replacement), which was a record for a Springbok.

He was also the fastest South African to 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 points, passing the milestones in 16, 24, 33, 43, 50 and 62 matches respectively.

7. Steyn is friendly with South African golfers Ernie Els, the four-time Major winner who is a huge rugby fan, and Louis Oosthuizen, who won the Open Championship in 2010.

Steyn himself plays off 14.

8. He was the starting fly-half in all five of the Springbok games at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, when they were knocked out 11-9 in the quarter-finals by Australia in Wellington. He was also top scorer in the tournament with 62 points.

At RWC 2015, he made a single appearance, off the bench, against USA in the pool stages.

9. Steyn played at Stade Francais from 2013 to 2020, helping them to the European Challenge Cup in 2017 and the French Top 14 title in 2015.

He kicked all of Stade’s points in a 12-6 win over Clermont in the French final.

Steyn returned to the Bulls after his stint in France.

10. Steyn was recalled to the South African squad ahead of the British & Irish Lions 2021 series, nearly five years after his previous appearance, against New Zealand in Durban, in October 2016 – a 57-15 loss.

Up to then he had scored 736 points in 66 Tests for the Springboks. He puts his longevity down to being a keen gymnast at school.

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