Bok veteran Steyn more serious ahead of second World Cup final
2007 Rugby World Cup winner Frans Steyn says he's a bit more serious going into the second final of his career.
At just 19-years-old it is not hard to understand how Frans Steyn's carefree attitude helped him mentally prepare for the 2007 Rugby World Cup final.
Despite being the youngest member of Jake White's team, Steyn had plenty of pressure on his shoulders as he became the incumbent inside centre after Jean de Villiers had been ruled out earlier in the competition.
The youngster seemed undaunted by the prospect of playing against England veterans including Johnny Wilkinson, Mike Catt and Jason Robinson.
That fateful night in Paris, Steyn stepped up to the challenge and prospered, running with purpose, tackling with ferocity and nailing a long-range penalty that helped the Springboks win the final.
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It's hard to believe that was 12 years ago.
After Springbok director of rugby Rassie Erasmus named his side for the final, Steyn took a seat next to his coach as the only man in both the Springbok and England camps to have played in a Rugby World Cup final and won it.
Steyn has long been known as a jovial, laid back player that is always cracking jokes and keeping the mood light in camp.
That hadn't changed this week as the veteran has been up to his usual antics before practices, challenging his teammates to drop goal competitions.
While on the outside it seems nothing has changed for the 33-year-old, Steyn told this writer that his mentality has shifted somewhat as he enters the back end of his career.
“I haven’t been trying to calm somebody down or whatever – I’m just enjoying the week. I’ve just been making jokes and being myself, trying not to stress. But I think everybody is prepared," Steyn said.
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“Definitely the last time (in 2007) wasn’t so serious for me. I was a little bit young and I always thought there would be another opportunity.
“Whereas now, I think it is a little bit more serious for me because I know there won’t be another opportunity for us. It doesn’t come along every day that we can play in a final, so we’ve got to make it count.”
Managing expectations
The week of a Rugby World Cup final is the pinnacle of any rugby players career but preparation becomes more of a mental challenge than a physical one.
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The Springbok coaching team have spoken at length this week about the importance of keeping players calm and managing stress.
For Steyn, this week might bring a sense of déjà vu as the teams work through the anticipation and expectation of South African fans back home.
“The first time was the same talk that we are having now: It’s for South Africa. You don’t realise until it happens and you get back home. We are in Japan now, and we don’t really get the vibe and whatever the people have back home.
“Our main thing still stays putting up a good performance, staying in our structures and all the processes that Rassie put out for us to put in good performances.
“But if we win, the guys are in for a massive shock when we get back home.”
The Springboks meet England in the Rugby World Cup final on Saturday. Kickoff is at 11h00 South African time.
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