Steyn puts Bok career on hold?

[Shaggy]

I came across this article about Francios Steyn on the Sport 24 - I thought all of the de Villiers/Steyn stuff was resolved ... it would be a shame if he wasn't in the RWC Springbok squad ... is F.Steyn being a bit precious, or does P.Div going to discard him?


Paris - Racing-Metro's South African back Francois Steyn says he's prepared not to take part in next year's World Cup because of the lack of respect shown to him and his club.

"Peter de Villiers (the South Africa coach) was due to come to Paris on September 18," Steyn told Midi Olympique newspaper.

"He cancelled the meeting. It's not the first time he's done that. It's a lack of respect for Racing and a lack of respect for me."

The 23-year-old Steyn, a member of South Africa's World Cup-winning squad in 2007, joined Racing for the 2009 season but has only rarely been called up since then.

He was lately selected for the Springboks' final Tri-Nations games this season but had to contend with criticism from de Villiers, who has been outspoken on the form of South Africans playing in European leagues.

"When John Smit (Clermont) or Victor Matfield (Toulon) came to France, everything was clear between the South African Rugby Football Union, them and their clubs," Steyn said.

"I don't understand why the federation doesn't act in the same way with Racing. It has said and promised many things but nothing has been upheld.

"I don't see why I would respect people who don't respect me, who don't respect my club.

"I've got this umpteenth meeting cancelled as proof. I've taken note of that and so expect nothing more from the Springboks."

Steyn added of his participation in the World Cup: "It's too early to say whether I'll not be there. But I'll definitely do what Racing want. If my bosses don't want me to go, I won't."

The pro-Steyn media lobby believe the booming boot of the former Coastal Shark and ability to kick penalties from extraordinary distances make him indispensable for the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Springboks/Steyn-puts-Bok-career-on-hold-20100924

 

[TRF_Olyy]

It's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.
PDV may be treating Steyn differently to how he treated Matfield et. al. (though Steyn isn't as important to the Boks as they are/were) - but Steyn doesn't need to go whining to the press about how noone respects him and/or Racing Metro.


Also, while cancelling a meeting obviously isn't great, he does have to factor in that Pdivvy has to travel thousands of miles to go to one meeting, so I don't think it'd be high on his priorities list (especially when SA based players are preferred over non, and Aplon is better than Steyn anyway)

 

[Shaggy]

It's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.
PDV may be treating Steyn differently to how he treated Matfield et. al. (though Steyn isn't as important to the Boks as they are/were) - but Steyn doesn't need to go whining to the press about how noone respects him and/or Racing Metro.


Also, while cancelling a meeting obviously isn't great, he does have to factor in that Pdivvy has to travel thousands of miles to go to one meeting, so I don't think it'd be high on his priorities list (especially when SA based players are preferred over non, and Aplon is better than Steyn anyway)

Yep, regardless of whether Steyn is on the outer with PDiv or not, Steyn having a whinge wouldn't help his Bok selection prospects ... if he does get selected, it won't make for a very happy camp

 

[Sam Owen]

Geez I hope he sorts it out and makes his way back into the 'boks. Such a good impact player of the bench for the 'boks last year, seemed a lot bigger this year in terms of weight. Hope he returns to form because he is a well rounded player to watch.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Looks like Steyns little outburst was unnecessary.
Long story short: Pdivvy was going to visit Bath, Ulster and Racing Metro when he went up north to go to an IRB conference. The conference was cancelled/postponed, so he told all the clubs that he would be going up north until later, Bath and Ulster replied/confirmed, Metro didn't. He didn't contact the SA players directly because it's protocol to go through their clubs.

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,9817_6399532,00.html

 

[Seaton]

Na, its all PDV's fault, he's a clown, sack him, etc...

 

[Amobokoboko]

Hmm, look promising for the WC

 

[veux]

He hardly needs to be in the world cup. He's got his world cup winners medal, had a stormer in the world cup final, and now he's earning huge amounts of money in France. To cap it off, he's only 23. SA aren't going to win the world cup next year, at all. He can easily have fun, earn lots of money and improve his game in Europe, and then go back to SA a year before the 2015 WC and have his Bok day there.

 

[FKlopper]

It's all very good that Steyn is complaining about it, but I wish he would do his talking on the pitch.

If he gets his head down and has an excellent season, he'll make himself a guaranteed pick. Not that PDV would admit that.