RUGBY ROYALTY

FRANS STEYN’S IMPACT AT LAST YEAR’S WORLD CUP ADDED MORE PRESTIGE TO A DECORATED CAREER THAT ISN’T OVER YET. CRAIG LEWIS FROM SA RUGBY MAGAZINE REPORTS.

- CRAIG LEWIS

MONTPELLIER MEMORIES

“Frans Steyn was already well known to French rugby fans when he joined Jake White at Montpellier in 2016 to become one of the club's 'LangueBoks' – a reference to the historic Languedoc region of southwest France in which the city sits and the number of players of South African origin at the club,” says France-based journalist James Harrington, who followed Steyn’s career closely. “He had played 57 times in a three-season stint with Racing between 2009 and 2012, before returning to the Sharks.

“The Jake White era at Montpellier was an uncomfortable mix of measurable success on the pitch and falling attendances as crowds, used to the 'sexy rugby' of his predecessor Fabien Galthie, struggled to come to terms with the more direct and uncompromising style of the South African coach.

“Steyn was integral to the Jake White method in Montpellier. In his first season, he was key to the club reaching the Top 14 play-o s, and winning the Challenge Cup title for the first and only time.

“He was, frankly, unstoppable in midfield, and accurate and monumental with the boot. While the White method was unfamiliar and unpopular to French rugby fans, Steyn was able to rise above it. For those Montpellier fans who stayed, he was a hero.