Cheetahs unveil their new 'ball boy'
Francois Philippus Lodewyk Steyn had every right to put his feet up and relax with the beverage of his choice.
Instead the two-time World Cup winner was retrieving balls in a mid-season friendly match in Bloemfontein.
Steyn, 34, was acting as ball boy for the Cheetahs.
The Cheetahs completed their November campaign with an impressive 54-5 rout of Romania’s champion Baia Mare club team this past Friday.
The eight tries to one rout were the result of six second-half tries, after the tourists ran out of gas.
Steyn was seen on the side of the field, running up and down the touchline and retrieving balls.
Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie said Steyn did not need much encouragement to fulfil ‘ball boy’ duties.
“It is always great to see a guy like that, coming back from the British and Irish Lions Test and the [year-end] UK tour and wanting to be next to the field,” Fourie told @rugby365com.
“That says a lot of who Frans Steyn really is.”
The Cheetahs coach said even though Steyn was not ‘miked up’, he would have given his ‘input’ on the side of the field.
“He is experienced enough to see what is going wrong and what we need to do.
“I think he would have given advice and information to some of the guys.
“He wasn’t miked, so he could not give messages from the coaching team.
“Jeandré Rudolph was on the mic from the players’ side and Frans was just there next to the field retrieving balls.”
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Steyn, capped 74 times and in the top 20 of most capped Springboks, have the rare distinction of winning two World Cups – 2007 and 2019.
He made his Test debut against Ireland at Lansdowne Road, Dublin, as a 19-year-old in November 2006.
His most recent international was as a replacement against England at Twickenham, London, just a week ago – six days before his ball boy antics.
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#ICYMI: The @CheetahsRugby completed their #November campaign with an impressive 54-5 rout of Romania’s champion Baia Mare club team on #Friday #bloemfontein#RugbyRugby #CHEvBAI https://t.co/miMneU2Pr4
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) November 27, 2021
