Scotland winger Kyle Steyn has spoken glowingly about the Springboks and reveals how he believes Rassie Erasmus has masterminded their success.
The 32-year-old back was born and raised in South Africa before making the move north after signing with the Scotland sevens team back in 2018 – Steyn qualified to represent Scotland through his mother’s ancestral ties to the country.
Now Glasgow Warriors’ club captain and a regular starter for the national team, Steyn’s risk on Scotland has paid off after he moved north after representing the Griquas in the Currie Cup.
Steyn’s South African father famously headed up Nelson Mandela’s presidential security detail during his term as president, and with a Scottish mother and grandfather, he grew up supporting Scotland and South Africa.
Springboks’ tactical approach
He detailed much of this during his interview with ex-Scotland lock Jim Hamilton, where the talk ultimately turned to the Springboks’ success under Erasmus, who has overseen back-to-back World Cup successes.
Hamilton asked Steyn what South Africa do differently that makes them so successful in international rugby and the Scotland star believes that it is their attitude towards the tactics that they deploy.
“It comes back to how the games evolved that nobody can cover everything, every option or every tactic,” Steyn said.
“It may not be the defining thing, but what I like most about what the South Africans did and what Rassie has done there is that they’ve just picked two or three things and backed those 100%.
“They absolutely hang their hats on that, and then they live or die with the risk that comes with that. I just love that attitude, that you’re going to back yourself to make the plays and force opposition to make plays and see if they’ve got what it takes to be able to get around that.”
He referenced Jacques Nienaber’s defensive structures that was instrumental in South Africa’s charge to two World Cup titles.
“When they first started out with that all-out blitz defence, everybody thought it was ludicrous,” he continued.
“There was so many options out wide to be able to get around them and get into the space, but they just hang their hats on the fact that that’s what they’re going to commit to. And if you get around them, then they’re going to hustle back and have the passion to get back and cover those options, too.
“That’s what the game demands now. It’s not like Test matches of old, where you can just kick, kick, kick and take points and win a game that way.
“The game now is at a level of intensity and a standard that you have to be able to back yourself to make plays and force teams to make plays, and then see if they’ve got the goods to come up with it.”
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Best he has played against
Hamilton also posed the stock-standard fan question of ‘who is the best player you’ve played again’ to Steyn and he picked out a South African.
“Cheslin Kolbe,” he replied.
“He wasn’t on the wing the day that I played against him; he was at full-back, and it was one of those moments as a Glasgow group that we had to learn from because Toulon put us to the sword.
“He was at full-back and went crazy, class player, class competitor, really tough, really tough guy to play against.”
While Kolbe is renowned for his pace, footwork and aerial ability, he is also deceptively strong and on occasion will sit defenders down with his ball carriers.
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Hamilton raised this part of Kolbe’s skillset with Steyn, prompting the Glasgow skipper to liken the Bok to one of his Test teammates, Darcy Graham.
“It’s quite similar to Darcy as well because you’re so worried about the space around you that you almost don’t set yourself a good base, so that when they decide to take you on, they’ll get the better of you more often than not,” he said.
“It’s the fact that Kolbe has got both [pace and power] and that he’s just so competitive. He digs in, and when he plays for South Africa, no matter the size of the winger he comes up against, you know more often than not he’s going to come out on top.”
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