Will he or won’t he play in the Rugby World Cup? That is the question fans of rugby Springbok Francois Steyn will have answered only later in the Super Rugby competition.
The 27-year-old was asked just that at a press conference at Kings Park yesterday, and his commitment to the Boks at England 2015 amounted to a tentative “I’d like it”.
Steyn clearly did not want to speak about the Springboks or his controversial decision to ditch the team on the Tuesday of their match against Wales in Durban last year, when the desperate Springbok coach had looked to him to fill the gap left by injured Jean de Villiers.
It later emerged that Steyn had deserted his teammates and his anxious coach in the week of a Test match because of personal issues with Saru about alleged unfulfilled deals regarding his medical insurance after his return from France. It is alleged by him that Saru let him down, and that may well be true, but it is also a fact that he petulantly walked out on the Boks, a team uncountable thousands would give their left arm to play for.
It would be incredibly sad, and an indictment on professional sport, if Steyn chose to distance himself from the international stage at a time when he is hitting his prime.
“Would I like to play for the Boks again?
“I’d like that,” he said rather underwhelmingly, before diverting attention back to the Sharks’ under-pressure Super Rugby campaign.
“I just want to play well for the Sharks and build on my good form of last season,” he said.
“I still want to achieve a lot here, and hopefully I will have the time to do that.
“I’ve just been settling in with my wife and kids back here after Japan. I enjoy it here and this is my main focus, especially with the situation the team is in.
“The senior players and I need to put in a big performance over the next couple of weeks.“
Steyn has not announced his retirement from international rugby, but you get the feeling that it is not far off. - The Mercury