Former Springbok World Cup winner Frans Steyn has faced many challenges, but he knows now he faces possibly the greatest one in his rugby career.
Steyn, now Director of Rugby at the Toyota Cheetahs, has the unenviable task of ensuring Cheetah rugby is on par with the four Vodacom United Rugby Championship franchises, and can participate in European Cup competitions, all without regular international competition.
And while the Cheetahs did bow out of the Carling Currie Cup on Saturday in their catfight with the Lions, Steyn believes his side did themselves proud, and that they will find a way of forcing their way back into regular international action.
“The politics in rugby, it mustn’t block us,” he said after the game, “We will do our own thing, we will find our own way and we will find people who want to support us. But we must just not be blocked.”
Steyn is eyeing some sort of link-up with Super Rugby for the Cheetahs - a plan mooted years ago by SA Rugby before Covid upended the entire Super Rugby plan. Back then the idea was to have eight professional franchises, and four would play in Europe and four in the Southern Hemisphere in some version of Super Rugby.
Currently the Cheetahs organise their own Toyota Cheetah Challenge, which will feature the likes of the Western Force and Emerging Ireland, and they take part in the EPCR Challenge Cup but they long for more regular action.
“If we go South, if two teams or three teams go South,” he said referring to a possible future in Super Rugby Pacific, “then in South Africa we will have a north v south Currie Cup competition. I’m working on it, but as I said there are a lot of politics going on, so we will have to wait and see.”
Steyn also said that it would be a mistake for the Cheetahs to be in the rugby wilderness, especially after their performances in the Currie Cup, and given regular competition, he believed they could match any URC franchise.
“I think the biggest thing is not being in a big competition. We came to Johannesburg today with the belief we have a very good team,” Steyn said.
“If we had to go to the Bulls or Sharks next week, I believe we would have a good enough team to go head to head with them.
“But I don’t know if the players believe as strongly as I believe in them. If we can play week in and week out, that belief grows. Look where the Lions are.
“I am proud. I am still proud to be a Cheetah. We always knew it was going to be tough coming here. People forget how good this Lions side has been throughout the Currie Cup.”
The Cheetahs will now prepare for their EPCR Challenge Cup campaign.